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Behind  her  is  busy,  prosperous  England  with  its  encircling  sea  and  its  flying 

ships 


.—11      I  I    I  I 


OUR  ANCESTORS 
IN  EUROPE 

AN  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


BY 

JENNIE   HALL 

FRANCIS    W.    PARKER    SCHOOL,    CHICAGO 


EDITED    BY 


J.   MONTGOMERY   GAMBRILL 

ASSISTANT   PROFESSOR   OF   HISTORY,   TEA.CHERS   COLLEGE 
COLUMBIA    UNIVERSITY 


LIDA  LEE   TALL 

SUPERVISOR   OF   GRAMMAR   GRADES,    PUBLIC   SCHOOLS 
BALTIMORE    COUNTY,    MD. 


SILVER,    BURDETT   AND   COMPANY 

BOSTON  NEW  YORK  CHICAGO 


COPTRIGHT,    1916, 

By  SILVER,   BURDETT  AND  COMPANY 


J.L.. 


INTRODUCTION 

It  is  still  generally  admitted  that  the  most  important  his- 
tory for  every  child  is  that  of  his  own  country,  but  happily 
the  old  narrow  conception  of  the  American  story  as  a  thing 
apart  from  the  rest  of  the  world  seems  to  be  rapidly  passing. 
The  roots  of  American  civilization  are  in  Europe.  Our  be- 
ginnings and  early  development  form  a  part  of  one  of  the 
most  far-reaching  changes  of  history :  the  expansion  of  Eu- 
rope beyond  the  ancient  limits  of  the  Mediterranean  world, 
the  discovery  of  the  American  continents,  the  opening  of 
direct  sea  routes  to  India  and  the  far  East,  the  commercial 
revolution,  the  first  stages  of  the  Europeanization  of  the 
world.  Only  in  this  larger  setting  can  the  history  of  the 
United  States  become  really  intelligible.  If  we  are  to  under- 
stand our  own  country  and  how  it  came  to  be  what  it  is,  we 
must  know  something  of  the  story  of  our  ancestors  in  Europe 
and  of  the  heritage  we  have  received  from  them. 

It  was  to  serve  the  purpose  of  such  an  introduction  to 
American  history  that  the  pressnt  volume  was  planned.  The 
general  field  and  larger  topics  have  been  chosen  to  meet  the 
requirements  for  the  sixth  grade  prescribed  by  the  Com- 
mittee of  Eight  of  the  American  Historical  Association,  while 
that  freedom  in  the  choice  and  treatment  of  details  which 
the  Committee  itself  so  wisely  urges,  has  been  exercised. 
The  book  may  also  serve  its  purpose  apart  from  the  Com- 
mittee's course  in  any  of  the  grammar  grades  or  early  years 
of  the  "junior  high  school." 

Among  the  original  proposals  of  the  editors  were  the  fol- 
lowing :  a  special  effort  to  combine  historical  accuracy  with 
attractive  style  and  adaptation  to  the  understanding  of  chil- 
dren ;  concreteness  of  treatment  with  adequate  detail  for  clear 


vi  '  •'  IFl&J       INTRODUCTION 

visualization  abd  the  consequent  sense  of  reality  ;  vivid  char- 
acterization of  persons ;  the  type-study  idea ;  careful  atten- 
tion to  the  inter-relations  of  events  and  the  concept  of  change 
in  institutions  and  ways  of  living.  As  one  important  aid  in 
realizing  these  aims  it  was  suggested  that  the  children  be  al- 
lowed to  make  the  acquaintance  of  some  of  the  most  interest- 
ing contemporary  writers.  The  words  of  Herodotus  and 
Caesar,  of  Einhard  and  Roger  of  Wendover,  of  Chaucer  and 
Piers  the  Plowman,  of  Columbus  and  Hakluy  t,  have  a  unique 
interest  and  a  value  that  no  effort  of  the  modern  writer  can 
replace.  Such  material  Miss  Hall  has  succeeded  with  remark- 
able skill  in  weaving  smoothly  into  her  story.  Moreover, 
these  old  writings,  the  pictures  drawn  by  people  of  ancient 
and  medieval  times,  and  the  photographs  of  material  remains, 
supply  within  the  covers  of  this  volume  ready  means  for  pre- 
senting simply  and  naturally  the  idea  of  evidence  and  of  how 
historical  knowledge  is  obtained. 

Author  and  editors  agree  in  dissenting  strongly  from  the 
theory  that  the  way  to  be  simple  is  to  be  brief.  Probably 
the  chief  vice  of  history  textbooks  has  been  the  tendency  to 
epitomize,  to  indulge  in  sweeping  generalizations,  to  mislead 
through  over-compactness.  This  book  is  accordingly  some- 
what longer  than  is  usual,  but  in  no  sense  heavier ;  on  the 
contrary,  it  is  more  interesting  and  easier  to  study  because 
the  topics  are  limited  in  number,  and  sufficient  space  has  been 
allowed  to  treat  them  clearly  and  vividly. 

Miss  Hall  has  given  to  her  task  not  only  several  years  of 
painstaking  labor  and  the  consideration  of  much  searching 
criticism,  but  her  rare  skill  as  a  teacher  of  children,  her  un- 
usual gifts  as  a  teller  of  stories,  and  the  experience  of  travel 
in  Greece  and  Italy.  She  has  produced  a  book  of  distinctive 
character,  one  which  children  will  read  with  pleasure  as  well 
as  with  profit  and  teachers  will  welcome  as  a  contribution  to 
the  study  of  history  in  the  grades. 

J.  MONTGOMERY  GAMBRILL 


TO   TEACHERS 

"  Have  we  always  been  what  we  are  ?  "  "  Why  are  we  so 
like  Europeans  and  unlike  Chinamen  ?  "  "  Men  and  animals 
grow ;  does  civilization  grow  ?  "  "  Before  America  what  was 
there  ? "  Thoughtful  children  ask  themselves  such  ques- 
tions. Less  thoughtful  ones  ought  to  be  led  to  ask  them. 
The  inquiring  attitude  of  mind,  the  question  formed  on  the 
lips  or  in  the  brain,  are  the  necessary  preludes  to  right  study. 
The  moment  when  such  a  question  is  voiced  is  the  psycho- 
logical moment  for  opening  this  book.  As  the  children  con- 
tinue to  read,  this  initial  question  should  pass  through 
Protean  changes  and  should  become  at  every  stage  more 
definite.  "  What  have  we  learned  from  the  Greeks  ? " 
"  How  did  men  learn  more  about  the  earth  than  they  knew 
at  first?" 

Under  purposeful  teaching,  teaching  that  trains  intelli- 
gence rather  than  crams  with  facts,  such  questions  will  be 
continually  forming.  Along  beside  them  will  come  a  host 
of  little  ones:  "How  long  was  a  knight's  spear?"  "Did 
the  Greeks  kneel  when  they  prayed  ? "  "  How  large  was 
Columbus'  ship  ?  "  These  are  honest  and  intelligent  ques- 
tions, questions  well  worthy  of  answers.  They  show  a  mind 
active  and  eager  for  accuracy,  for  definiteness.  Children 
hunger  for  details.  They  reason  inductively.  It  is  the 
vivid  image  that  stirs  them  to  make  a  generalization.  I 
never  saw  a  generalization  stir  them  to  anything  but  revolt. 

This  book  tries  to  rouse  these  larger  questions  and  the 
smaller  ones,  and  it  tries  to  give  material  for  answering 
them.  But  it  needs  the  help  of  an  inspiring  teacher  to  com- 
plete it.  She  must  make  the  recitation  a  discussion,  not  a 
quiz.  She  must  in  scores  of  ways  stimulate  questioning  and 
vivid   imaging.     She   must  alternate   hard,    close   thinking 

vii 


viii  TO  TEACHERS 

with  gratification  of  the  play  instinct.  She  must  see  to  it 
that  children's  hunger  to  express  is  satisfied.  She  must 
have  supplementary  material  for  investigating  minds. 

The  thing  that  quickens  and  invigorates  nature  study  is 
the  fact  that  it  makes  absolutely  necessary  the  use  of  real 
materials  to  be  studied.  The  danger  for  history  lies  in  the 
fact  that  most  of  its  material  is  only  a  reflection  preserved 
in  books.  We  must  search  diligently  for  the  real  material, 
the  substance  of  the  reflection.  The  men  we  are  reading 
about  did  things,  said  things,  made  things.  Their  deeds  are 
gone,  though  hosts  of  books  give  us  accounts  of  them.  Can 
we  hear  any  of  the  things  they  said,  that  we  may  judge  the 
speakers?  Their  voices  are  dead,  but  their  writings  yet 
exist.  Let  us  study  them.  Can  we  see  any  of  the  things 
they  made  ?  Fortunate  the  class  whose  teacher  or  members 
have  traveled  and  seen  the  temples  and  castles  of  Europe. 
Fortunate  the  school  in  a  city  with  a  good  museum,  having 
armor,  tapestry,  lutes,  illuminated  manuscripts,  models  of 
old  buildings.  Lacking  these  good  things,  we  still  have  the 
multiplicity  of  pictures  with  which  our  press  supplies  us.  I 
hope,  then,  that  this  book  will  be  a  center  about  which  will 
accumulate  a  little  library  especially  of  sources,  a  mass  of 
mounted  pictures,  a  small  collection  of  illustrative  models. 

The  making  of  those  models  will  be  a  thing  to  save  the 
souls  of  some  hand-minded  children,  and  the  acquaintance 
with  them  will  vivify  and  vitalize  everybody's  thinking.  A 
Greek  lyre,  a  Greek  scroll,  a  Roman  house,  a  catapult,  a  bat- 
tering ram,  a  knight's  shield,  a  castle,  an  illuminated  page, 
a  Viking  boat,  a  tapestry  frame,  an  astrolabe,  a  series  of 
sketches  illustrating  a  page's  life  —  let  us  substitute  these 
for  description  and  dissertation.  Let  us  in  all  ways  possible 
give  our  classes  a  chance  to  make  their  own  observations  and 
to  build  their  own  generalizations. 

I  hope  that  after  reading  this  book  children  will  say  : 
"What  happened  next?     We  are  different  in  some  things 


TO  TEACHERS  ix 

from  the  people  of  1600 :  how  did  these  changes  come 
about  ?  "  Children  of  twelve  are  not  too  young,  I  think,  to 
begin  to  see  human  history  as  a  series  of  changes,  a  series, 
too,  without  end.  The  point  may  take  in  their  minds  some  such 
crude  form  as  this  :  "  When  my  father  was  a  boy  some  things 
were  different  from  what  they  are  now.  What  things  will 
be  different  when  I  am  an  old  man  from  what  they  are  now  ?  " 
For  a  teacher  to  arouse  this  question  would  be  a  great  accom- 
plishment. To  bring  it  about,  the  children's  eyes  must  be 
turned  from  books  to  look  questioningly  upon  the  society 
about  them,  to  see  it  as  an  elastic  and  flexible  thing  that  is 
the  outcome  of  great  changes  during  the  past  and  is  inevi- 
tably destined  to  numberless  changes  in  the  future. 

Every  intelligent  teacher  who  uses  this  book  will  work 
out  original  and  interesting  questions,  dramatizations,  con- 
struction, plans  for  composition,  and  like  devices  for  adding 
vigor  to  the  study  and  like  methods  of  carrying  the  study 
over  into  living.  Such  discoveries  and  inventions  would  be 
of  service  to  other  teachers.  The  author  would  welcome 
such  material  with  a  view  to  incorporating  some  of  it  in  the 
questions  and  suggestions  of  subsequent  editions  of  the  book. 
Letters  may  be  addressed  to  her  in  care  of  the  publishers. 

JENNIE   HALL 


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

The  writer  has  had  the  benefit  of  much  assistance.  Pro- 
fessor W.  S.  Ferguson  of  Harvard  University  has  criticised 
the  chapters  dealing  with  the  ancient  world,  and  Professor 
George  C.  Sellery  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin  those  on 
the  Middle  Ages.  To  Miss  Lida  Lee  Tall,  supervisor  in  the 
Baltimore  County  public  schools,  I  am  indebted  for  sugges- 
tions such  as  only  a  thoughtful,  inspired  teacher  can  give. 
Mrs.  Eunice  Fuller  Barnard  I  gratefully  acknowledge  as  the 
collector  of  the  illustrations  and  as  the  painstaking  editor 
of  the  entire  book.  Yet  it  is  a  pleasure  to  pay  my  largest 
debt  of  thanks  to  Mr.  J.  M.  Gambrill  of  Teachers  College, 
Columbia  University.  Not  only  has  he  performed  most  of 
the  arduous  labor  necessary  on  the  maps,  but  he  has  been 
the  severe  and  stimulating  critic  of  the  whole  manuscript. 
Upon  none  of  these  kind  critics  may  I  lay  the  responsibility 
for  any  of  the  faults  of  the  book,  but  I  send  it  out  with  more 
assurance  because  of  their  assistance. 

J.  H. 


CONTENTS 
PART   I.     THE   ANCIENT   WORLD 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.     Greece,  the  Explorer  and  Teacher  i 

The  World  before  Our  Time i 

Early  Greek  Exploration 3 

Ancient  Peoples  of  the  Mediterranean    .         .         .         .11 

Colonization 13 

II.     What  Greece  Had  to  Teach  the  World    ...  20 

Religion 20 

Art 21 

The  Olympic  Games 29 

Greek  Cities .        .  34 

Athens 38 

Education 45 

v  Government      .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  51 

III.  Greece  and  Her  Neighbors 53 

The  Persian  War 53 

The  Delian  Confederacy 59 

Macedon  Conquers  the  World 62 

Greek  Influence  on  Civilization 70 

IV.  Rome  Grows  Strong 74 

Rome  Conquers  Italy 74 

Roman  Life yj 

V.     Rome  Conquers  the  World 90 

How  Rome  Conquered  Carthage 90 

Rome's  Conquest  of  the  East 96 

Caesar's  War  in  Gaul 99 

Conquest  Changes  the  Romans no 

VI.     The  Roman  Empire 117 

How  Rome  Ruled  the  World 117 

A  New  Religion  in  the  Ancient  World  .         .         .         .128 

Results  of  Roman  Rule 135 

xi 


xii  CONTENTS 


PAET   II.     THE   NEWER  NATIONS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

VII.    The  Barbarian  Conquerors    .        .        .        .        .        .  140 

The  Germans  .         .         . 141 

The  Conquests  of  the  Goths 144 

The  Franks 148 

Charlemagne's  Empire     . 151 

The  Vikings     , 157 

VIII.     How  Germany  and  France  Began         .        .                 .  .161  • 

Charlemagne's  Empire  Divided      .         .         .         .         .  161 

Germany 163 

France 173 

IX.    Hew  England  Began         .        .        .        .        .        .        .181 

The  Angles  and  Saxons  Take  Britain    .  .         .181 

The  Reign  of  King  Alfred 187 

The  Norman  Conquest 192 

The  Good  Laws  of  Henry  II 200 

King  John  and  the  Great  Charter 205 

X.     Castle  Life 213 

Feudalism,  or  How  Men  Got  Land         .        .        .        .214 

The  Castle        . .217 

A  Siege    .         .         . 224 

The  Warlike  Spirit  of  the  Age 228 

Knightly  Ideals  and  Training         .         .         .         .         .  232 

Knightly  Pleasures 239 

The  Time  of  Chivalry 247 

XI.    The  Workers 249 

Farmers •         •  249 

Townsmen .         •  263 

Traders .         .  277 

XII.     Religion  in  the  Middle  Ages         .....  296 

Christian  Missionaries •  296 

Church  Organization 298 

Monasteries 3°° 

Saints  and  Pilgrimages 316 

Mohammedanism,  the  New  Religion  in  Asia          .         .  322 

The  Crusades .        .        .329 


CONTENTS  xiii 
PART   III.     BEGINNINGS   OF   OUR   OWN   TIMES 

CHAPTKE  PAGE 

XIII.  Great  Changes   .        .        . 334 

National  States 334 

How  the  World  Began  to  Read      .....  336 

A  Change  in  Religion     . 337 

XIV.  Ships  in  Strange  Seas 341 

Early  Sailors  and  Their  Ways 341 

Wanted  :  A  New  Route  to  India    .         .        .        .         .  346 

Portugal's  Great  Explorers 349 

Spanish  Ships  in  a  New  World 360 

Rival  Explorers 368 

The  Results  of  a  Century's  Work 377 

XV.    Spain  and  Her  Rivals 379 

Spaniards  in  America      .                 379 

Spain  and  Her  Enemies :  1.   France       .         .        .         .  385 

Spain  and  Her  Enemies  :  2.   The  Netherlands       .         .  388 

Spain  and  Her  Enemies :  3.    England    ....  393 

England  in  America 408 

England's  Rivals  in  the  New  World       ....  412 

Important  Dates 417 

Further  Reading 422 

Index  .        . .423 


LIST   OF   MAPS   AND   PLANS 

PAGE 

Greece  about  500  b.c. 7 

Map  Showing  Greek  Colonization         .         .  .         .15 

Athens  and  the  Bay  of  Salamis             .         ..         .         .         .  45 

The  Persian  Empire  about  490  b.c 54 

Alexander's  Empire .64 

Italy  in  Relief 75 

Rome  and  Her  Hills 76 

Rome  and  Carthage  at  the  Beginning  of  the  Second  Punic 

War 93 

Rome  and  Carthage  at  the  End  of  the  Second  Punic  War  95 

A  Roman  Camp           .         .         .                  .         .         .         .         .  108 

Modern    Countries    Included    in    Roman    Empire    at    Its 

Greatest  Extent .116 

Part  of  a  Roman  Map  of  the  World.     From  a  map  of  the 

4th  century.     (Reproduced  in  Synge,  A  Book  of  Discovery)   .  123 

Trading  Districts  of  the  Ancient  World    ....  126 

The  Germanic  Kingdoms 149 

Empire  of  Charlemagne  and  Its  Divisions           .         .         .  162 
Europe  about  the  Close  of  the  Twelfth  Century 

Between  pp.  212  and  213 

A  Castle.     (After  Viollet-le-duc,  Annals  of  a  Fortress)      .         .  218 

Plan  of  a  Manor 251 

Trade  Routes  in  the  Middle  Ages        .         .         .         .      282-283 

Ninth-century  Plan  of  a  Monastery  (St.  Gall,  Switzerland)  315 
Europe  about  the  Middle  of  the  Sixteenth  Century 

Between  pp.  334  and  335 
A  Map  of  the  World  Made  in  Alexandria  about  150  a.d. 

Ptolemy's  map.     (From  Fiske,  Discovery  of  America)*        .  341 
A    Sailor's    Map    of    Europe   and   Africa,    Made   in    1351. 

From  the  Laurentian  Portolano     .         .         .                 .         .  343 
Exploration  Moves  down  the  African  Coast.     (From  Fiske, 

Discovery  of  America)  *            .......  356 

Western  Africa.    From  Martin  Behaim's  globe,  1492.     (Re- 
produced in  Synge,  A  Book  of  Discovery)        ....  357 

The  World  as  Europeans  Knew  It  before  1492          .         .  360 
Part   of   a   Globe   Made    in    1492,   just   before   Columbus 

Sailed.     From  Behaim's  globe.     (From  Fiske,  Discovery  of 

America)  *.........•  362 

Part  of  a  Globe  Made  in  1531.     From  the  globe  of  Orontius 

Finaeus.     (From  Fiske,  Discovery  of  America)  *     .         .         .  370 

The  Great  Discoveries,  1486  to  1600    .         .         .         .         .  376 

*  By  courtesy  of  Houghton  Mifflin  Company. 

xiv 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

In  order  that  they  may  give  accurate  evidence  of  the  life  of  other  times,  the 
illustrations  in  this  book  are  taken,  with  few  exceptions,  from  material  contem- 
porary with  the  periods  described.  Vase-paintings,  statues,  buildings,  mosaics, 
illuminations  from  old  manuscripts,  early  wood-cuts  and  engravings  have  all 
been  drawn  upon.  This  list  gives  the  source  in  each  instance,  usually  citing 
also  the  name  of  a  modern  work  where  the  illustration  in  question  and  others  of 
the  same  period  may  be  found  reproduced.  For  volumes  referred  to  more  than 
three  times  the  following  abbreviations  have  been  used  : 

Baumeister  =  Baumeister,   A.,    Denkmaler  des  klassischen    Altertums,    Munich, 

1887. 
Cults  =  Cutts,  E.  L.,  Scenes  and  Characters  of  the  Middle  Ages,  London,  1872. 
Gardiner  =  Gardiner,  S.  R.,  Students'  History  of  England,  1904. 
Lacroix  =  Lacroix,  Paul,  Manners,  Customs  and  Dress  during  the  Middle  Ages, 

London,  1876. 
Lacroix  et  Sere  =  Lacroix  et  Sere,  Le  Moyen  Age  et  la  Renaissance,  Paris. 
Rawlinson  =  Rawlinson,  George,   The  Seven  Great  Monarchies  of  the  Ancient 

Eastern  World,  1884. 
Stothard  =  Stothard,  C.  A.,  The  Tapestry  of  Bayeux,  London,  1827. 
Synge  =  Synge,  M.  B.,  A  Book  of  Discovery,  London,  1912. 
Viollet-le-duc  =  Viollet-le-duc,  Dictionnaire  raisonne  du  mobilier  frangais,  Paris, 

1875. 

PAGE 

Queen  Elizabeth.    From  an  engraving  published  in  1596.   Frontispiece 
Assyrian  King  Hunting.     From  a  relief  at  Koyunjik.     (Rawlin- 
son)      .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         2 

Assyrian  Lion  Hunt.     From  a  relief  at  Nimrud.     (Reproduced 

in  Layard,  Monuments  of  Nineveh) 3 

The  Monster  Scylla.     From  an  Etruscan  urn.    (Baumeister)         5 

The  Acropolis  of  Corinth 9 

A  Greek  Ship.     From   a    Greek   vase-painting.      (Reproduced 

in  Chatterton,  Ships  and  Ways  of  Other  Days)      ...       10 
Zeus,  Here,  Poseidon,  Demeter.     From  a  Greek  vase.     (Bau- 
meister)  20 

The  Parthenon  in  Ruins 22 

Greek  Horsemen.  From  a  photograph  of  the  Parthenon  frieze  24 
Venus  of  Melos.  From  the  statue  in  the  Louvre,  Paris  .  .  27 
Hermes  of  Praxiteles.     From  the  statue  in  the  museum  at 

Olympia *,■■;         .         .         .28 

Temple  of  Zeus  at  Olympia.     (Baumeister)     .  .         .31 

xv 


xvi  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Harnessing  a  Chariot.  From  a  Greek  vase.  (Baumeister)  .  33 
Three  Greeks.     From  the  relief  of   Orpheus,   Eurydice  and 

Hermes  in  the  Villa  Albani,  Rome 35 

A  Greek  Potter  at  Work.     From  a  Greek  vase.     (Baumeister)  37 

The  Acropolis  of  Athens 39 

A  Greek  Lady  and  Her  Slave.  From  a  grave  relief  in  the  Na- 
tional Museum,  Athens 41 

A  Greek  School.     From  a  Greek  vase.     (Baumeister)  46  and  47 

Socrates.     From  the  bust  in  the  National  Museum,  Naples        .  48 

Persian  Soldiers.     From  a  relief  at  Persepolis.     (Rawlinson)  .  53 

A  Persian  King.     From  a  Greek  vase.     (Baumeister)       .         .  55 

Persian  Foot-soldier.  From  a  relief  at  Persepolis.   (Rawlinson)  56 

Noble  Persian  Guard.  From  a  relief  at  Persepolis.  (Rawlinson)  57 
Soldier  of  Marathon.     From  a  grave  relief  in  the  National 

Museum,  Athens 58 

Darius,  the  Persian  King,  in  his  War  Chariot.  From  a  mo- 
saic at  Pompeii.     (Baumeister)      .         .  .         .         .66 

The  Harvard  University  Stadium 71 

A  Court  in  a  Roman  House.  At  Pompeii  ....  78 
Romans  Going  to  Make  Sacrifice.     From  reliefs  in  the  Uffizi 

Gallery,  Florence 80  and  81 

A  Roman  Woman  Sacrificing.     From  a  statue  in  the  National 

Museum,  Naples 83 

A  Roman  Sacrifice  before  a  Temple.     From  a  relief  in  the 

Palazzo  dei  Conservatori,  Rome   ......  85 

A  Trireme.     (Baumeister).  ........  91 

The  Dying  Gaul.     From  the  statue  in  the  Capitoline  Museum, 

Rome    .         . 100 

A   Movable   Tower.     (A   modern   drawing  in   Viollet-le-duc, 

Annals  of  a  Fortress) 102 

Storming  a  Town.     A  modern  drawing 104 

A  Roman  War  Scene.     A  detail  from  Trajan's  column,  Rome. 

(Baumeister)           .         .         .         .         ...         .         .         .  106 

A  Triumphal  Arch.     A  drawing  of  the  Arch  of  Titus,  Rome. 

(Baumeister)  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .112 

The  Cold  Plunge  in  a  Roman  Bath-house.  (Viollet-le-duc)  .  119 
Wax  Tablet,  Inkhorn,  Scroll  or  Book.     (Real  Museo  Bor- 

bonico,  1824) 122 

A  Statue  of  the  Emperor  Constantine.     At  Barletta,  Italy   .  134 

A  Frankish  Barbarian  of  Early  Times.     (Lacroix)      .         .  142 

A  German  Warrior.     (Lacroix)        ......  143 

Clovis.    From  a  statue  on  his  tomb  formerly  in  the  Abbey  of 

St.  Genevieve.     (Lacroix) 150 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  xvii 


Pope  Crowning  Charlemagne.     From  a  14th  century  manu- 
script.    (Lacroix)  .........     152 

Charlemagne.     From  a  miniature  at  the  University  of  Paris. 

(Lacroix) 155 

Viking  Ship.     From  the  reconstruction  of  Professor  Montelius. 

(Synge) 158 

Holy   Roman   Emperor.     From   a   12th   century   manuscript. 

(Synge) 161 

The  Pope  on  His  Throne.     From  a  15th  century  manuscript. 

(Cutts) 165 

The  Greatness  of  the  Emperor.     From  a  9th  century  manu- 
script.    (Lacroix) 167 

A  Caravan  in  the  East.  From  a  14th  century  map.  (Synge)  170 
A  King  of  the  Franks  on  His  Carved  Chair.     From  a  10th 

century  manuscript.     (Viollet-le-duc) 175 

St.  Louis.  From  a  13th  century  manuscript.  (Lacroix  et  Serf)  178 
A  Saxon   Warrior.     From  a  print  in  the  British  Museum. 

(Cutts) 182 

Saxon  Horsemen.  From  the  British  Museum.  (Gardiner)  .  184 
The  House  of  Parliament  in  England  To-day  .  .  .  186 
Norman  Ship.  From  the  Bayeux  Tapestry.  (Stothard)  .  .  193 
Saxon   Foot-soldiers    and   Norman    Horsemen.     From    the 

Bayeux  Tapestry.     (Stothard) 194 

Death  of  King  Harold.  From  the  Bayeux  Tapestry.  (Stothard)  195 
Norman  Horsemen.  From  the  Bayeux  Tapestry.  (Stothard)  196 
King  William's  Ship.  From  the  Bayeux  Tapestry.  (Stothard)  198 
A  Norman  Banquet.  From  the  Bayeux  Tapestry.  (Stothard)  200 
Pilgrims  Leaving  a  Town.     From  a  manuscript  in  the  British 

Museum.     (Cutts) 202 

Paying  Toll  on  a  Bridge.     From  a  painted  window  at  Tournay. 

(Cutts) 203 

King  John.     From  a  manuscript  in  the  British  Museum.     (Re- 
produced in  Fairholt,  Costume  in  England)    ....     206 
The  Castle  of  an  English  Baron.     A  modern  drawing    .         .     207 
An  English  Merchant  in  Rich  Clothes.     "Chaucer's  mer- 
chant" from  the  Ellesmere  manuscript.     (Reproduced  in 
Jusserand,  English  Wayfaring  Life)       .         .         .         .         .211 
Beginning   of   a  Tournament.     From  a   manuscript   in   the 

British  Museum.     (Cutts) 213 

A  Vassal  Swearing  Fealty.     From  a  14th  century  manuscript. 

(Lacroix)        ..........     215 

A  Sally  across  a  Drawbridge.      From  a  14th  century  manu- 
script.    (Cutts)      .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .220 


xviii  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

A  King  Giving  Orders  to  His  Builder.     From  a  manuscript  in 

the  British  Museum.     {Gardiner) 223 

Besieging  a  Tower.    From  a  manuscript  in  the  British  Museum. 

(Cutts) 225 

Battering  Ram.  From  a  15th  century  manuscript.  (Cutts)  .  226 
A  Tournament.  From  a  14th  century  manuscript.  (Cutts)  .  229 
A  Knight  of  the  Thirteenth  Century.     From  a  manuscript  in 

the  British  Museum.     (Cutts) 231 

Crossbowman.     From  a  manuscript  in  the  British  Museum. 

(Cutts)  .         . 234 

A  Tournament  of  Froissart's  Time.     From  a  15th  century 

manuscript.     (Cutts) 237 

The  Knighting.     From  a  13th  century  manuscript.      (Lacroix  et 

Sere) 238 

A  Gentleman  Hawking.  From  the  Loutterell  Psalter.  (Gar- 
diner)   240 

The  King  Dines.  From  an  early  14th  century  manuscript.  (Cutts)  243 
A  Lady.     From  a  statue  in  Chartres  Cathedral.    (Reproduced  in 

Gautier,  La  Chevalerie) 245 

A  Royal  Harper.     From  an  early  14th  century  manuscript. 

(Cutts) 246 

A  Knight.  From  a  manuscript  in  the  British  Museum.  (Cutts)  248 
The  Ox-plow.     (This  and  the  following  illustrations  of  farm 

activities  from  the  Loutterell  Psalter.     (Gardiner)         .         .     250 

Cutting  Grain 252 

Stacking  the  Sheaves 252 

Hauling  the  Cart-load  Uphill.     (Reproduced  in  Jusserand^ 

English  Wayfaring  Life  in  the  Middle  Ages)    ....     254 

Harrowing  .         .         .-. 255 

Threshing  With  Flails 259 

John  Ball.     From  a  15th  century  manuscript  of   Froissart's 

Chronicles.     (Cutts)        ........     261 

Medieval  Shops.     (Lacroix  et  Sere) 264 

A  Goldsmith's  Shop.     From  a  manuscript  in  the  British  Museum. 

(Cutts) 266 

An  Old  View  of  Florence.     From  a  wood-cut  in  a  Florentine 

manuscript  dated  1495.     (Reproduced  in  Staley,  The  Guilds 

of  Florence,  London,  1906)     .'-■-., 269 

A  Corner  of  a  Market  in  Florence.     From  a  wood-cut  in  a 

Florentine  manuscript  dated  1495.     (Reproduced  in  Staley, 

The  Guilds  of  Florence) 270 

A  Street  Corner  in  Florence.     From  the  painting  of  St. 

Stephen  preaching,  by  Fra  Angelico 272 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  xix 

PAGE 

The  Bronze  Doors  of  the  Baptistry.     In  Florence      .         .     274 

The  Bell  Tower.     In  Florence  .       . 275 

The  Arms  of  the  Apothecaries  and  Physicians.     From  the 

plaque  by  Luca  della  Robbia 276 

Landing  at  a  Seaport.     From  a  manuscript  in  the   British 

Museum.     (Cutts) 279 

Merchant  Ships  Carrying  Soldiers.     From  a  15th  century 

manuscript  of  Froissart's  Chronicles.     (Cutts)       .         .         .     280 

Traders  Landing  at  an  Eastern  Town.     From  the  Livre  des 

Merveilles,  14th  century.     (Synge) 286 

A  Fair.     From  a  painted  window  at  Tournay.     (Cutts)     .         .     289 

The  Doge  of  Venice  Going  in  Procession  through  the  City. 

From  the  engraving  by  J.  Amman,  16th  century.     (Lacroix)     292 

Merchants  Welcoming  a  Queen.  From  a  15th  century  manu- 
script of  Froissart's  Chronicles.     (Cutts)       ....     294 

Members  of  the  Choir  Sitting  in  Their  Stalls  at  Church. 
From  the  Book  of  Hours  of  Richard  II  in  the  British  Museum. 
(Cutts)  . 296 

A  Bishop  Ordaining  a  Priest.  From  a  12th  century  manu- 
script.    (Gardiner) 299 

A  Cathedral  of  the  Middle  Ages.     From  a  photograph  of  the 

Cathedral  at  Rheims     .         . 301 

A  Monk  with  Gifts  for  His  Monastery.    From  a  manuscript 

in  the  British  Museum.     (Cutts) 304 

An  Abbot.     From  the  same.     (Cutts)  .....     305 

The  Crowning  of  the  Virgin  Mary.     From  the  painting  by  Fra 

Angelico 306 

A  Monk  in  a  Library.     From  a  manuscript  in  the  Library  of 

Soissons.     (Cutts) 308 

A  Picture  Painted  by  a  Monk  in  an  Old  Book.  From  a  min- 
iature in  the  "Terence"  of  King  Charles  VI.     (Lacroix)      .     309 

Initial  Letter  from  an  Old  Manuscript.     (Lacroix  et  Sere)     .     310 

A  Gift  to  the  Monastery.     From  a  manuscript  in  the  British 

Museum.     (Cutts) 313 

A  Monastery  Cloister.     In  the  mission  of  San  Juan  Capistrano, 

California 314 

A  Tomb.     In  the  church  of  Santa  Maria  del  Popolo,  Rome  .     319 

A  Pilgrim.     From  a  manuscript  in  the  British  Museum.     (Cutts)     320 

A  Great  Noble  Goes  on  a  Pilgrimage.     From  a  manuscript 

Life  of  Richard  Beauchamp,  Earl  of  Warwick.     (Cutts)  .     321 

A  Vista  in  a  Saracen  Palace.     The  Alhambra  in  Spain    .         .     327 

Jerusalem.     From  a  wood-cut  in  Liber  Chronicarum   Mundi, 

Nuremberg,  1493.     (Lacroix) 331 


XX  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Soldier  with  an  Early  Form  of  Firearm.    From  a  drawing 

in  the  British  Museum.     (Cutts) 335 

A  Printing  Office  of  the  Sixteenth  Century.  From  a  con- 
temporary engraving 337 

Martin  Luther  as  a  Monk.     From  an  engraving  made  in  1520     338 

A  Portuguese  Ship.     From  a  wood-cut  of  about  1516  in  the 

British  Museum.     (Synge) 345 

Marco  Polo.     From  a  wood-cut  in  the  first  printed  edition  of  his 

book,  1477.     (Synge)     . 347 

The  Polos  Begin  Their  Journey.     From  the  Livre  des  Mer- 

veilles,  14th  century.     (Synge)        .         .         .         .         .         .     348 

Kublai  Khan.     From  an  old  Chinese  encyclopedia.     (Synge)     .     349 

Henry  the  Navigator.  After  a  print  by  Simon  de  Passe.  (Re- 
produced in  Chatterton,  Ships  and  Ways  of  Other  Days)         .     352 

Vasco  da  Gama.     From  a  contemporary  portrait.     (Synge)  .     358 

Columbus,  Departing  on  His  First  Voyage,  Takes  Leave  of 

the  King  and  Queen.     An  old  print  ....     364 

The  Santa  Maria.     From  a  wood-cut  of  1493.     (Reproduced  in 

Ruge,  Geschichte  des  Zeitalters  der  Entdeckungen)  .         .         .     366 

A    Fleet    of    Magellan's    Time.     From    Mercator's    Mappe 

Monde,  1569.     (Synge) .371 

Magellan's   Victorious    Ship.     From    Hulsius,    Collection    of 

Voyages,  1602 .374 

Spanish  Conquest  of  Mexico.     From  an  ancient  Aztec  drawing. 

(Synge) 380 

San  Domingo  in  1586.     From  A  Summarie  and  True  Discourse 

of  Sir  Francis  Drake's  West  Indian  Voyage  ....     383 

Emperor  Charles  V.     From  the  painting  by  "Titian         .         .     386 

Philip  II.     From  the  painting  by  Titian 389 

English  and  Spanish.    From  De  Bry,  Collections  of  Travels  and 

Voyages,  1599 395 

Francis  Drake.     From  an  engraving  by  Hondius,  1582    .         .     397 

The  Ark  Royal.     From  an  engraving  in  the  British  Museum      .     403 

The   Armada   Fight.     From    Adams,   Series   of    Views   of   the 

Armada  in  the  British  Museum 405 

God's  Providence  House.     In  Chester,  England       .         .         .     406 

Royal  Procession  of  Queen  Elizabeth  to  Visit  a  Lord. 
A  painting.  (Reproduced  in  Nichols,  Progresses  and  Public 
Processions  of  Queen  Elizabeth.     London,  1823)      .         .         .     407 

An  Indian  of  Virginia.  From  a  water-color  drawing  by  John 
White  of  Raleigh's  expedition  (1585).  In  the  British 
Museum 410 

The  Town  of  New  Amsterdam,  or  New  York,  as  it  Ap- 
peared in  1673.    From  a  contemporary  engraving      .      412-413 

Old  Spanish  Gate  at  St.  Augustine      .        .        .        .        .     414 


OUR  ANCESTORS  m  EUROPE 

PART   I.     THE  ANCIENT   WORLD 

CHAPTER  I 
GREECE,   THE  EXPLORER  AND  TEACHER 
The  World  before  Our  Time 

As  you  very  well  know,  there  was  a  time  when  no 
white  man  lived  in  America.  In  1500  Europe  and  Asia 
and  northern  Africa  were  the  only  homes  of  civilized 
people.  Even  in  that  small  world  the  people  of  the  East 
and  the  people  of  the  West  knew  little  of  each  other. 
France,  Italy,  Spain,  Germany,  England  really  made  up 
a  world  of  their  own.  Architects  had  filled  these  coun- 
tries with  beautiful  churches  and  castles  and  palaces. 
Painters  and  sculptors  had  adorned  them  with  pictures 
and  statues.  Poets  and  philosophers  and  historians  were 
writing  great  books,  and  people  all  over  Europe  were 
reading  and  studying. 

But  it  had  not  always  been  so.  Fifteen  hundred 
years  before  the  discovery  of  America,  northern  Europe 
had  been  a  wilderness  inhabited  by  barbarians.  There 
men  had  lived  in  mean  little  houses  and  had  dressed 
in  skins.  They  had  wandered  from  place  to  place 
in  search  of  new  pastures  for  their  cattle  or  of  fresh 
fields  for  game.  They  had  been  unable  to  read  or 
to  write.     It  was  Rome  who  had  taught  these  barbarians 


THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 


Assyrian  King  Hunting 

Carved  on  the  wall  of  the  king's  palace  about  2800  years  ago.     Notice  the 
king's  embroidered  robe.     Attendant  protects  him  with  spear  and  shield 


and  had  civilized  them.  But  long  before  that  time  Rome 
herself  had  been  half  barbarian  and  had  had  to  learn 
from  older  nations.  Greece  was  her  great  teacher.  And 
Greece  in  turn  had  been  ignorant  and  had  been  taught 
by  Egypt,  Phoenicia,  Assyria. 

When  Greece  was  young,  the  civilized  world  was  a  nar- 
row fringe  around  the  eastern  end  of  the  Mediterranean. 
There  men  wore  beautiful  clothes  of  marvelously  dyed 
and  embroidered  cloth.  They  lived  in  huge  stone  palaces 
gay  with  carved  and  painted  walls.  They  drove  in  char- 
iots and  made  great  walled  cities.  They  built  monu- 
ments and  carved  histories  upon  them.  They  studied  the 
stars.  They  dug  mines  for  gold  and  silver  and  copper 
and  made  shining  vases  and  cups  and  plates  and  bracelets 
and  rings  and  crowns  and  necklaces.  Their  bodies  and 
their  walls  were  gorgeous  with  precious  ornaments.  Out 
of  this  rich  old  world  grew  up  Greece,  the  queen  of 
learning.  All  western  peoples  to-day  look  back  to  her  as 
the  mother  of  their  thought  and  their  art.  To  show  a 
little  how  these  teachers  of  civilization  did  their  work  and 
how  others  carried  it  on,  is  the  purpose  of  this  book. 


GREECE,  THE  EXPLORER  AND  TEACHER 


j»^?=l 

vvl   ' 

IIbzI 

€ 

"^^ ^rg*       ■■...,. 

WmkhL 

Sir 

Assyrian  Lion  Hunt 

Notice  the  elaborate  harness.     The  king  carries  a  sword  slung  over  his  shoulder 
by  a  strap.     Two  attendants  have  bows  across  their  shoulders 

Early  Greek  Exploration 

Greece  is  a  sailor's  country.  Long  arms  of  bays  cut 
into  the  land  and  invite  men  to  try  the  gentle  water. 
Long  points  of  land  jut  into  the  sea  like  ships'  prows,  and 
islands  close  together  beckon  a  boat  from  one  to  another 
out  from  the  mainland.  So  Greeks  very  early  became 
seafaring  people.  Some  of  their  oldest  stories  show 
them  venturing  into  unknown  waters,  finding  wild,  un- 
civilized lands,  and  meeting  many  dangers.  Jason  and 
his  friends,  fifty  young  heroes,  planned  a  search  for 
a  certain  marvelous  ram's  fleece  of  gold,  so  the  story 
goes.  They  built  a  boat  of  fifty  oars  —  the  greatest 
ship  of  her  time  —  and  when  they  had  finished 
her,  these  inexperienced  ship-builders  could  not  e.  g0~ 
launch  her  but  had  to  lure  her  into  the  sea  by 
magic  songs,  the  story  says.  Then  every  hero  took  an 
oar,  and  they  rowed  toward  the  strange  North,  hugging 
the  shore  for  safety  or  feeling  their  way  out  to  near-by 
islands. 

They  passed  through  the  narrow  Hellespont  and  on 
into  the  Propontis,  where  few  Greeks  had  ever  gone. 


4  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

Here  giants  with  six  arms  fell  upon  them  at  night  and 
would  have  killed  them  except  for  godlike  Herakles. 
And  again  some  of  the  heroes  had  a  battle  with  the 
monsters  of  the  whirlwinds.  After  many  days  of  bitter 
toil  and  danger,  they  came  out  into  what  we  call  the 
Black  Sea,  but  they  called  it  Axinus,  or  the  Sea  Unfriendly 
to  Strangers;  for  it  stretched  before  them  broad  and 
empty  and  shoreless.  There  were  no  snug  harbors 
where  they  might  hide  from  storms.  No  safe  islands 
offered  refuge  and  resting  place.  Mists  hung  over  the 
marshy  shores,  and  the  sky  was  gloomy.  Yet  the  heroes 
pushed  on,  and  dangers  enough  they  met,  according  to 
the  old  tale  —  hot  rivers  and  savage  people  and  wander- 
ing rocks  that  clashed  together  with  a  great  spouting  of 
the  sea. 

But  at  last,  with  magic  help,  they  obtained  that  Golden 
Fleece  and  started  homeward.  Then  adventures  fell 
thick  about  them.  For  days  a  storm  raged  and  hid  the 
shores  and  the  sky.  Because  they  had  no  way  to  steer 
but  by  the  sun  in  the  daytime  and  the  stars  by  night,  they 
lost  their  course  and  wandered  they  knew  not  where. 
They  met  cannibals  and  the  magic-singing  sirens,  who 
would  have  eaten  them,  and  horrid  Scylla,  with  six  long 
necks  and  ravenous  dogs'  mouths  that  snatched  at  them 
as  they  passed  her  cave.  They  encountered  shoals  and 
fogs  and  quicksands  and  deserts.  But  at  last  they  came 
to  the  island-sown  iEgean  Sea,  where  they  were  safe. 
After  their  many  years  of  strange  adventuring  around 
the  edges  of  the  world,  they  finally  reached  home. 

Another  famous  sailor  of  the  old  stories  was  Odysseus, 

who  started  out  from  Troy  in  Asia  Minor  on  his  home- 

ward  voyage  to  Ithaca,  around  on  the  western 

side  of  Greece.    But  the  ships  of  those  days 

were  frail  craft,  and  the  storms  crushed  them.     Sailors 


GREECE,  THE  EXPLORER  AND  TEACHER 


The  Monster  Scylla 

She  is  snatching  some  of  Odysseus' 

men.      Odysseus    wears    a     Greek 

sailor's  cap 


did  not  know  how  to  tack  against  the  wind,  and  there- 
fore unfriendly  gales  whirled  Odysseus  out  of  his  way.  For 
ten  years  he  sailed  about  from 
unknown  shore  to  unknown 
shore,  visiting  lands  no  other 
Greek  had  ever  seen.  He 
was  buffeted  by  storms,  at- 
tacked by  savages,  tempted 
by  enchantresses.  He  saw 
such  marvels  as  a  one-eyed 
giant,  the  story  says,  and 
lazy  people  who  drugged 
themselves  with  a  flowery 
food,  and  men  bewitched  and 
changed  to  animals.  He  lost 
all  his  ships  and  men,  but  at  last  he,  himself,  reached  home, 
full  of  tales  of  the  wonderful  lands  outside  of  Greece. 

I  cannot  think  that  these  stories  are  utterly  untrue. 
Imagine  yourself  lost  at  sea  and  wrecked  upon  the  shore 
of  Greenland,  the  first  white  man  to  see  it. 
What  a  marvelous  tale  you  would  tell  when  w^T11686 
you  again  reached  home!     "It  is  a  huge  piece  Show 
of  ice  floating  in  the  sea,"  you  would  say. 
"Men  there  have  hair  all  over  their  bodies.     The  sky 
burns."     In  your  hurry  to  get  away  you  had  not  waited 
to  investigate  very  closely,  and  you  had  seen  such  won- 
ders that  you  could  not  find  fit  words  to  tell  of  them. 
If  some  one  who  heard  you  should  tell  some  one  else 
the  marvelous  tale,  and  he  should  pass  it  on  to  another, 
the  last  story  might  be  very  astonishing  and  yet  founded 
upon  fact. 

So  it  is,  I  think,  with  these  old  Greek  stories.  Man  is 
a  land  animal,  and  the  sea  of  old  time  was  full  of  terrors 
for  him.     So  the  very  monsters  of  these  tales,  told  and 


6  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

even  written  down  as  early  as  800  B.C.,  hint  that  the 
ancient  Greeks  went  exploring  outside  of  their  own 
iEgean,  that  they  actually  did  find  uncivilized  lands,  that 
they  met  whirlpools  and  whirlwinds  and  dangerous  rocks, 
that  they  saw  strange  and  warlike  peoples,  that  they  found 
gold  and  treasure. 

When  one  man  has  traveled  a  new  route  and  comes 
back  with  interesting  stories,  other  men  become  ambitious 
Reasons  ^°  see  ^ne  same  wonders  and  to  push  a  little 
for  Greek  farther.  Many  ships,  therefore,  followed  in  the 
Expior-  wake  of  the  first  one  that  entered  the  Black 
Sea  and  of  the  first  one  that  struck  out  into 
the  open  waters  west  of  Greece.  Besides  men's  natural 
curiosity  and  love  of  adventure,  there  were  other  reasons 
that  drove  the  Greeks  to  exploring. 

Greece  is  a  very  beautiful  land.  It  is  a  tangle  of 
mountain  chains,  sharp  and  steep,  with  snow-capped 
peaks  here  and  there.  Between  are  little  valleys  with 
winding  rivers.  The  rock  is  mostly  limestone,  and 
springs  have  cut  it  full  of  holes  and  caves.  Long  arms 
of  the  blue  sea  run  inland  and  bring  the  sea  air.  Cliffs 
and  headlands  boldly  rise  from  the  water.  Greek  plants 
are  lovely  and  interesting  —  grapes  and  currants  and 
laurel  on  the  hillsides,  olives  and  figs  and  pomegranates 
in  the  valleys,  oleanders  and  narcissus  and  violets  and 
roses  along  the  watercourses. 

The  Greeks,  loving  their  land  for  its  beauty,  thought 
f,hat  it  possessed  every  other  virtue,  even  fertility.  They 
spoke  of  it  as  "fruitful,"  "deep-soiled,"  "deep-bosomed." 
Yet  in  reality  it  is  not  a  fertile  country.  Most  of  the 
land  is  mountainous  and  cannot  be  used  for  farming  at 
all.  The  valleys  are  small.  Thessaly,  the  largest  plain 
in  Greece,  is  not  sixty  miles  square.  And  even  in  many 
of  the  valleys  the  soil  is  light.     The  climate,  moreover, 


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[7] 


8  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

is  dry,  so  that  farmers  have  always  had  to  irrigate.  Yet 
ancient  Greece  was  crowded  with  people  living  mostly 
in  cities  and  villages,  and  busy  with  farming,  mining,  and 
manufacturing. 

Therefore,  although  every  piece  of  farming  land  was 
used  for  garden  or  orchard  or  vineyard,  yet  Greece  could 
not  raise  enough  wheat  to  feed  herself,  and  she  wanted 
more  gold  and  silver  and  copper  and  iron  than  she  could 
find  in  her  own  mines,  and  more  fish  than  her  own  sea 
would  furnish.  Neither  was  there  enough  timber  in  the 
country  for  all  the  ship-building  and  house-building.  So 
her  men  were  forced  to  go  exploring.  The  country 
became  crowded,  too,  and  young  men  were  eager  to  try 
their  fortunes  in  a  new  land. 

Another  thing  that  tempted  the  Greeks  out  into  un- 
known waters  was  the  example  of  still  earlier  and  greater 
The  voyagers,  the  Phoenicians.     These  people  had 

Earlier  gone  everywhere.  They  had  built  towns  in  Sicily 
Explorers  an(j  a  great  city  called  Carthage  in  Africa.  They 
had  a  colony  in  Spain,  at  the  very  end  of  the  world.  They 
had  even  ventured  out  into  the  unknown  great  ocean  past 
the  Pillars  of  Hercules,  and  had  sailed  away  north  to 
Britain,  where  they  worked  rich  tin  mines.  Herodotus, 
an  ancient  Greek  historian,  says,  indeed,  that  they  made 
a  three  years'  voyage  from  the  Red  Sea  around  the  whole 
of  Africa,  doubling  its  very  southern  end  and  coming  north- 
ward and  back  into  the  Mediterranean  through  the  Pillars 
of  Hercules,  which  we  call  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar.1 

Phoenician  merchants  were  continually  landing,  too, 
upon  Greek  coasts,  telling  of  foreign  lands  and  selling 
foreign  goods.  The  quick-witted  Greeks  bought  the 
goods,  gave  eager  ear  to  the  tales,  studied  the  boats, 
and  copied  them.     Soon  they  began  to  follow  in  the  wake 

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IO    ■  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

of  the  daring  vessels  flying  past  into  the  strange  waters  of 
the  North  and  the  West. 

The  ships  in  which  the  Greeks  did  their  voyaging 
were  small,  not  often  over  a  hundred  feet  long  and  per- 
haps a  fourth  as  wide.     They  were,  moreover,  shallow, 


A  Greek  Ship 

The  sail  is  furled,  while  the  men  row.  The  pilot  uses  oars  instead  of  a  rudder. 
Notice  the  eye  painted  on  the  prow,  that  the  ship  may  see  its  way.  There  is 
a  small  decked  cabin  in  the  prow.  A  ship  had  more  rowers  than  this,  but  the 
old  vase-painter  liked  his  picture  better  with  few  men.  Read  a  story  of  Odys- 
seus and  the  sirens,  and  you  will  understand  about  the  man  bound  to  the  mast 


carrying  what  would  seem  to  us  a  very  small  cargo. 
One    mast    stood    amidships    and    held    a    square    sail. 

There  was  no  centerboard,  and  every  sailor 
s^.ee  knows  what  that  means :   the  ship  could  only 

run  before  the  wind.  If  the  course  lay  north, 
and  the  wind  was  blowing  from  that  direction,  the  sail  was 
furled,  the  mast  taken  down  and  stowed  away,  and  the 
men  sat  down  to  row  ;  for  the  ship  carried  perhaps  twenty 
or  thirty  long  oars  in  case  of  need.  There  was  no  such 
rudder  as  we  have,  but  a  broad  oar  was  fastened  to  the 


GREECE,  THE  EXPLORER  AND  TEACHER    n 

ship's  side  and  projected  past  the  stern.  With  this  the 
pilot  steered,  with  no  lighthouses  to  warn  him  off  the 
rocks,  no  map  to  guide  him,  and  no  compass  to  give 
him  directions. 

When  the  ship  reached  its  harbor,  the  men  leaped  out 
and  pulled  it  up  on  theo  beach.  They  camped  on  shore, 
cooking  at  a  bonfire  and  sleeping  on  the  sand.  On  the 
voyage  they  must  have  lain  on  the  open  deck  or  in  the 
hold,  curled  up  among  the  cargo.  It  sounds  like  a  camp- 
ing party,  living  in  the  open  and  exploring  the  wilderness 
for  the  fun  of  the  thing.  Yet  these  were  the  great  traders 
and  sailors  and  civilizers  of  their  time. 

Ancient  Peoples  of  the  Mediterranean 

The  Mediterranean  world  which  these  early  voyagers 
saw,  eight,  seven,  six  hundred  years  before  Christ,  was 
very  different  from  what  it  is  now.  At  the  eastern  end 
were  the  old  and  civilized  nations  of  the  world  —  the 
Egyptians  in  Africa,  the  Hebrews  and  the  Phoenicians  on 
the  shore  of  Asia,  the  Lydians  north  of  them,  the  Assyrians 
behind  them.  Still  farther  east  was  the  half-known, 
mysterious  India,  and  beyond  that  no  man  knew  what. 
The  Greeks,  younger  children  of  civilization,  inhabited 
the  western  fringe  of  Asia  Minor  and  -the  islands  of  the 
iEgean,  as  well  as  the  mainland  of  Greece.  But  all  of 
Europe  except  Greece,  and  all  Africa  except  Egypt,  was 
wilderness,  inhabited  by  uncivilized  warlike  tribes. 

The  Euxine  Sea,  that  is,  the  Black  Sea,  says  Herodotus, 
"  except  for  the  Scythians,  exhibits  the  most  ig- 
norant  nations."  Then  he  describes  the  Scyth- 
ians. "They  have  neither  cities  nor  fortifications,  but 
carry  their  houses  with  them.  They  are  all  equestrian 
archers,  living  not  from  the  cultivation  of  the  earth  but 
from  cattle,  and  their  dwellings  are  wagons."     And  he  goes 


12  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

on  to  tell  how  after  a  battle  they  made  drinking  cups  from 
the  skulls  of  their  slain  enemies,  hanging  the  scalps  from 
the  bridles  of  their  horses. 

The  people  of  Spain,  and  the  Gauls  in  what  is  now 
France,  were  only  a  little  less  savage.     The  tribes  of 

northern  Africa  were  gentle  brown  people, 
Africans       mos^  °f  them    "nomads   who   eat   flesh  and 

drink  milk,"  Herodotus  tells  us.  Of  one  tribe 
he  says,  "In  the  summer  they  leave  their  cattle  on  the 
coast  and  go  [inland]  in  order  to  gather  the  fruit  of  the 
palm  trees."  And  others  of  them  cut  their  hair  in  strange 
fashion  and  "  bedaub  their  bodies  with  vermilion." 

In  the  middle  part  of  Italy  were  the  Latins,  from  whom 
later  came  the  great  Romans.    These  people,  when  the 

Greeks   began   to    colonize    the    West,    seven 

hundred  years  before  Christ,  were  already 
settled  farmers,  raising  grain  and  grapes,  making  flour 
and  wine.  They  spun  and  wove  garments  of  wool. 
There  were  dyers  to  make  the  cloth  beautiful,  and  fullers 
to  clean  their  robes.  They  had  sandal  makers  and  gold- 
smiths and  coppersmiths  and  carpenters  and  potters. 
They  sailed  the  sea  and  traded  with  their  neighbors.  A 
king  ruled  over  them  with  senators  to  help  him  make  the 
laws ;  and  those  laws  were  good  and  just.  Yet  these 
people  had  no  alphabet,  and  therefore  could  not  read  nor 
write ;  had  no  schools ;  and  made  no  beautiful  buildings 
or  statues. 

To  these  half-civilized  shores  went  the  adventurous 
Greeks.  Their  trading  parties  carried  with  them  gold 
Trading  jewelry,  bronze  pots,  brilliant  cloth,  wine, 
stations  oil,  swords  —  such  things  as  uncivilized  people 
^d  would  be  eager  for.    They  made  a  tempting 

Factories  diSpiay  0f  these  goods  on  the  shore  and  sent 
inland  to  invite  the  natives  to  come  and  buy.     But 


GREECE,  THE  EXPLORER  AND  TEACHER    13 

barbarian  people  never  have  money,  so  they  brought 
down  with  them  whatever  they  had  —  sheep,  cattle, 
cheeses.  A  good  trade  was  made,  both  sides  were  pleased, 
and  the  Greek  ship  went  home  laden  with  a  new  cargo  to 
be  sold  in  the  city.  Another  time  it  returned  and  traded 
again.  The  merchant  perhaps  bought  a  little  piece  of 
shore  from  the  natives,  put  up  a  storehouse  and  stocked 
it  with  goods,  and  left  two  or  three  men  to  keep  up  the 
trade  with  the  barbarians  while  the  ship  went  to  and 
fro. 

Sometimes  the  natives  had  nothing  that  the  Greeks 
wanted,  but  the  exploring  trader  might  find  veins  of 
metal  or  forests  where  he  could  cut  timber.  At  his  next 
visit  he  would  bring  a  company  of  men  and  establish  a 
lumber  camp  or  a  mining  camp  and  would  get  natives  to 
help  in  the  work.  Or  perhaps  he  would  find  broad, 
fertile  plains  that  were  good  for  raising  wheat.  He 
would  bring  seed  and  plows  and  workmen  and  plant  a 
crop,  and  during  a  few  seasons  he  would  teach  the  people 
of  the  country  to  till  the  ground.  Then  he  would  be  sure 
of  a  cargo  that  would  sell  well  in  any  city  of  crowded 
little  Greece. 

Colonization 

If  trade  or  industry  prospered  at  one  of  these  stations, 
it  would  be  talked  of  in  Greece,  and  people  would  become 
interested,  especially  men  who  liked  novelty,  or  who 
were  in  trouble  of  some  kind.  "  We  will  begin  over  again 
in  a  new  place,"  these  men  would  say.  Word  would  go 
about  that  a  company  was  to  start  out  from  a  certain 
city  to  found  a  colony  in  such  and  such  a  place,  and  other 
people  who  wanted  to  go  would  flock  there. 

But  the  Greeks,  although  they  were  great  travelers, 
were  also  great  lovers  of  home.    They  dreaded  cutting 


14  THE  ANCIENT   WORLD 

the  ties  that  bound  them  to  the  place  where  their  fam- 
ilies had  lived  for  generations.     So  before  this  company 

of  colonists  started,  they  went  to  the  hearth 
Cokmyg  &    °^  their  city-     For  besides  all  other   temples 

every  Greek  town  had  a  little  building  with 
an  altar,  where  burned  always  the  sacred  fire  of  the 
city  that  seemed  like  its  very  breath.  A  little  of  that 
holy  fire  the  colonists  took  with  them  in  their  ship  and 
carefully  tended  it  on  the  voyage.  And  a  little  of  the 
home  earth  from  beneath  the  altar  they  took,  and  a 
priest.  In  the  new  land  they  spread  out  the  handful  of 
earth  and  planted  the  new  altar  upon  it.  Upon  the  altar 
they  put  the  holy  fire  that  they  had  brought.  So  the 
new  town  was  born,  and  the  people  felt  that  she  was  the 
daughter  of  their  old  home  city. 

;  In  this  way  hundreds  of  colonies  were  formed  all  around 
Extent  of  ^ne  e(^Ses  °f  the  Mediterranean.  One  city 
Greek  alone,  Miletus  in  Asia  Minor,  was  the  mother 
Coioniza-     0f  eighty  towns,   most  of  which  were  on  the 

Black  Sea.  On  the  shores  where  once  the 
Argonauts  had  found  the  Golden  Fleece,  Greek  miners 
collected  gold  from  the  rivers  and  dug  it  from  mines. 
In  the  mountains  they  found  iron  and  cut  timber. 

On  the  level  plains  that  border  the  sea  at  the  north  and 
west  they  grew  wheat.  Odessa,  a  Russian  city  of  to-day 
and  one  of  the  greatest  wheat  markets  of  the  world,  is 
named  after  one  of  those  old  Greek  colonies  planted  in 
the  wheat  region.  The  native  Scythians  about  this 
district  were  shepherd  people,  and  they  traded  beeves 
and  hides  and  wool  for  armor  and  golden  ornaments. 
To-day  people  are  digging  for  the  graves  of  these  ancient 
barbarians,  and  they  find  in  them,  hundreds  of  miles 
from  Greece  though  they  are,  beautiful  Greek  cups  and 
necklaces  and  bracelets. 


[iSl 


16  THE  ANCIENT   WORLD 

• 

Another  of  the  greatest  industries  of  this  northern 
region  was  fishing.  The  Propontis  (or  Sea  of  Marmora) 
Towns  and  the  mouth  of  the  Borysthenes  (or  Dnieper) 
of  the  River  swarmed  with  tunny.     Fleets  of  Greek 

Black  Sea  fismng  boats  were  busy  here,  and  on  the  shores 
were  lines  of  sheds,  where  the  catch  was  dried  and  salted. 

Another  commodity  the  Greeks  got  from  the  Black 
Sea  district,  —  slaves.  It  is  a  terrible  thought  to  us  that 
men  should  be  bought  and  sold  like  cattle,  but  the 
ancient  world  had  not  yet  learned  that  all  men  have 
a  right  to  freedom.  Every  nation  used  great  numbers 
of  slaves  —  to  work  mines,  farms,  and  factories,  to  row 
ships,  to  help  in  the  work  of  the  house,  and  to  serve  as 
personal  attendants.  The  people  living  north  of  the  Black 
Sea  were  made  up  of  many  tribes  that  were  continually 
at  war  with  one  another,  and  the  victors  were  glad  to  carry 
their  captives  down  to  the  shore  and  sell  them  to  the 
Greeks. 

Besides  slaves,  gold,  iron,  fish,  and  lumber,  the  Greeks 
got  from  the  Black  Sea  country  flax  and  pitch,  wax  and 
honey.  Indeed,  so  full  of  treasures  was  this  region  that, 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  sea  was  still  dangerous  to 
navigate,  the  surrounding  country  often  ice-covered,  and 
some  of  the  natives  hostile,  yet  they  changed  its  old  name 
of  "Sea  Unfriendly  to  Strangers"  and  called  it  "Euxine, " 
"Sea  Friendly  to  Strangers"  ;  and  scores  of  Greek  towns 
lined  its  shores. 

Greek  ships  had  gone  west  as  well  as  north  and  had 
found  Italy  and  the  great  fertile  island  of  Sicily.  It  was 
the  very  kind  of  country  to  please  these  people 
itaf7  *"*  —  mountainous  like  their  own,  but  with  broader 
plains  between  the  mountains.  It  had,  too,  the 
same  jagged  coast,  full  of  harbors,  and  the  same  brilliant 
sky.     So  colony  after  colony  was  founded  here  about  the 


GREECE,  THE  EXPLORER  AND  TEACHER    17 

shores  of  Sicily  and  of  southern  Italy,  until  the  land  was  as 
Greek  as  Greece  itself  and  even  took  the  proud  name  of 
" Magna  Grsecia"  or  " Great  Greece." 

Many  of  the  towns  grew  to  be  larger  and  richer  than 
their  own  mother  cities  in  the  East.  Their  kings  had 
stables  and  fine  race  horses  and  elegant  chariots.  Phi- 
losophers and  poets  lived  there  and  wrote,  and  learned 
men  from  the  older  countries  were  glad  to  visit  in  the 
courts  of  Sicily.  The  greatest  industry  here  was  wheat 
raising;  in  fact,  this  island  was  one  of  the  granaries 
of  the  world.  But  on  the  mountains  back  from  the 
shore  there  was,  also,  much  herding,  and  Sicilian  cheeses 
became  famous.     Indeed,  Sicily  was  a  land  of  varied  riches. 

Still  farther  west  than  Italy,  the  Greeks  settled  along 
the  coast  of  Spain  and  France.  The  present  French  city  of 
Marseilles  is  the  old  Greek  colony  of  Massilia. 
When  the  Greeks  first  visited  these  shores, 
six  hundred  years  before  Christ,  they  found  here  a  Phoeni- 
cian settlement,  as  they  did  in  many  another  place.  But 
they  drove  out  the  earlier  people  and  made  a  Greek  city. 
And  this  Massilia  herself  planted  other  colonies,  until  the 
southern  shore  of  Gaul  (as  France  used  to  be  called)  was 
a  fringe  of  Greek  towns  with  good  harbors  and  a  long 
road  to  connect  them,  running  from  Spain  into  Italy. 

There  were  fisheries  on  the  shores ;  for  these  are  the  very 
waters  where  we  now  get  our  best  sardines.  Back  in  the 
Spanish  mountains  were  mines  of  gold  and  silver  and  copper. 
Spain,  indeed,  was  the  "  California  of  ancient  days/' 
with  its  rich  gold  finds.  The  settlers  made  salt,  traded 
with  the  natives  for  slaves  and  dyes  and  honey  and 
cattle,  and  grew  grapes  and  olives  in  the  fertile  plains. 
Best  of  all,  down  the  Rhone  River,  that  reaches  far  back 
into  France,  came  native  traders  who  had  met  other 
traders  from  far-off  Britain  and  had  brought  down  from 


18  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

there  precious  tin,  a  metal  that  the  Greeks  much  needed 
in  the  making  of  their  weapons  and  dishes  and  vases  and 
statues  of  bronze.     So  the  Gallic  colonies  prospered. 

On  the  northern  shore  of  Africa,  in  a  fertile  spot,  was 

another  line  of  Greek  settlements.     Behind  them  stretched 

the  mysterious  desert,  and  brown  men  "came 

Africa. 

to  the  shore  with  horses  and  camels,  with 
black  slaves,  with  apes,  parrots,  and  other  wonderful 
animals,  with  dates  and  rare  fruits."  And  at  the  very 
door  of  rich  old  Egypt,  too,  the  Greeks  planted  cities  and 
bought  her  wheat  and  linen  and  ivory  and  beautiful  things. 

Into  these  new  lands  where  the  colonists  settled  they 
Effect  of  carried  their  own  customs.  They  planted  olive 
Greek  orchards  and  made  oil,  vineyards  and  made 
Coloniza-  wine.  They  built  temples  like  those  at  home 
41011  and  worshiped  the  same  gods.      They  made 

walled  cities  set  close  with  houses  that  had  flat  roofs 
and  pleasant  inner  courtyards.  They  furnished  their 
rooms  with  simple,  graceful  furniture.  They  used  beau- 
tiful vases  of  clay  and  bronze.  They  had  banquets 
and  sang  songs.  They  practised  gymnastic  games  and 
dances.  In  fact,  they  lived  in  the  colonies  as  they  had 
lived  in  their  Greek  homes. 

The  barbarians  from  round  about  all  of  these  trans- 
planted Greek  cities  continually  visited  the  towns  to  buy 
or  sell,  and  they  stayed  to  gaze  at  the  wonders.  Many 
of  them  the  Greeks  employed.  Barbarian  fathers,  seeing 
Greek  books  and  men  reading  interesting  things  in  them, 
sometimes  sent  their  sons  to  live  in  a  Greek  family  that 
they  might  learn  to  read  and  write.  It  often  happened 
that  Greek  men  married  native  women,  and  their  children 
grew  up  as  Greeks.  Many  barbarians,  too,  came  to  live 
in  the  colony,  and  their  grandchildren  forgot  that  they 
were  not  real  Greeks. 


GREECE,  THE  EXPLORER  AND  TEACHER    19 

So  Greek  learning  and  Greek  ways  of  living  spread. 
One  of  the  tribes  of  Sicily  became  so  thoroughly  saturated 
with  Greek  ideas,  or  so  Hellenized  (as  we  say),  that  they 
tried  to  build  towns  like  the  Greek  cities,  and  perhaps 
half  the  population  of  the  civilized  and  elegant  Magna 
Graecia  were  Hellenized  natives.  The  same  thing  hap- 
pened in  southern  Gaul.  Even  far  up  the  Rhone  Hellen- 
ized Gauls  built  towns  on  Greek  models  and  lived  lives 
after  the  Greek  manner.  Over  in  eastern  Europe  two 
strong  young  nations,  Thrace  and  Macedon,  half  Greek 
to  begin  with,  grew  up  in  the  north  country  under  Greek 
teaching.  We  shall  hear  of  Macedon  again  as  the  land 
of  Alexander  the  Great. 


1.  In  the  map  of  Greece  count  the  islands.  (Yet  these  are  only  a  few 
of  them.)  How  many  good  harbors  can  you  find  ?  On  which  side  are 
most  of  them?  Can  you  see  why  Greece  had  most  of  her  dealings  with 
countries  east  of  her?  Find  good  farming  land.  Find  shut-in  valleys. 
2.  Write  an  ignorant  sailor's  account  of  a  voyage  past  a  volcano.  Is 
it  in  any  way  like  the  descriptions  that  the  Argonauts  made  of  the 
wonders  they  saw?  3.  Make  as  full  a  list  as  you  can  of  the  peoples  of 
the  ancient  world.  4.  How  did  your  own  town  begin?  5.  What  other 
ancient  people  made  trading  posts  like  those  that  Greece  established? 
6.  What  modern  countries  have  important  colonies?  Where  are 
those  colonies?  Name  some  way  in  which  they  are  different  from 
Greek  colonies.  7.  Find  out  what  you  can  about  Herodotus  (from  an 
encyclopedia,  a  history  of  Greece,  or  the  introduction  to  Everyman 
edition  of  Herodotus).  What  opportunities  did  he  have  for  learning 
the  true  facts  for  the  stories  he  tells  ?  If  you  read  any  of  these  stories, 
notice  some  of  the  different  ways  in  which  he  learned  about  what  he 
tells.  8.  From  your  geography  find  what  to-day  are  the  products  of 
the  places  mentioned  on  pages  14  to  18  as  the  districts  colonized  by 
the  Greeks. 


Zeus 


Here 


Poseidon     Demeter 


Zeus  carries  his  thunderbolt,  Poseidon  his  fisher- 
man's trident,  Demeter  her  wh$at  heads 


CHAPTER  II 


WHAT  GREECE  HAD  TO  TEACH  THE  WORLD 

Religion 

What  was  the  Greek  life  to  which  the  people  of  the 
Mediterranean  had  been  introduced?  We  have  learned 
a  better  religion  than  the  Greeks  knew,  and  yet  there 
were  many  beautiful  things  about  that  belief  of  theirs. 
The  world  seemed  to  them  too  great  and  too  varied 
for  one  god  to  rule,  so  they  thought  there  were  many. 
These  great  beings  were  like  men  and  women,  but  taller, 
more  beautiful,  and  wiser.  They  lived  in  a  marvelous 
city  in  the  sky  with  a  wall  of  bronze  running  around  it, 
and  within  it  were  golden  palaces  set  in  gardens.  One 
of  the  old  poets,  speaking  of  this  Olympus,  the  dwelling 
place  of  the  gods,  says  :  "Not  by  winds  is  it  shaken,  nor 
ever  wet  with  rain,  nor  doth  the  snow  come  nigh  thereto, 
but  most  clear  air  is  spread  about  it  cloudless,  and  the 
white  light  floats  over  it.  Therein  the  blessed  gods  are 
glad  for  all  their  days." 

20 


WHAT  GREECE  HAD  TO  TEACH  THE  WORLD      21 

Those  gods  it  was  who  brought  all  things  to  pass  in  the 
earth  and  in  the  sky.  Every  day  Apollo  drove  the 
chariot  of  the  sun  on  its  course  through  the  heavens  to 
light  the  world  and  to  warm  it.  Zeus,  the  king  of  gods 
and  men,  sent  rain  upon  the  earth  to  water  it.  Poseidon 
stirred  up  storms  on  the  sea  and  calmed  them.  Dionysus 
guarded  the  vineyards  and  filled  the  grapes  with  sweet 
juice,  and  Demeter  brought  all  heads  of  grain  to  yellow 
ripeness. 

The  gods  read  men's  hearts  also,  punished  them  for 
evil  deeds,  and  encouraged  them  to  live  righteously.  The 
gods  gave  help,  too,  in  the  common  work  of  men's  daily 
lives.  A  sailor  prayed  to  Hermes  for  a  favorable  breeze. 
A  bronze  worker,  laboring  on  a  beautiful  shield,  asked 
Hephaestus,  the  blacksmith  god,  to  help  him.  A  hunter 
prayed  to  Artemis,  goddess  of  the  moon  and  of  the  chase, 
to  send  his  arrow  to  the  mark.  A  shepherd  prayed  to 
Pan  for  fat  flocks  and  thick  fleeces.  A  man  in  doubt 
how  to  act  asked  help  from  Athene,  the  wise  giver  of 
good  counsel. 

Here  is  an  ancient  prayer  that  men  used  to  sing  to 
Hephaestus:  "Sing,  shrill  Muse,  of  Hephaestus  renowned 
in  craft,  who  with  gray-eyed  Athene  taught  goodly  works 
to  men  on  earth,  even  to  men  that  before  were  wont  to 
dwell  in  mountain  caves  like  beasts;  but  now,  being 
instructed  in  craft  by  the  renowned  craftsman,  He- 
phaestus, lightly  the  whole  year  through  they  dwell  happily 
in  their  own  homes.  Be  gracious,  Hephaestus,  and  grant 
me  valor  and  fortune." 

Art 

Men  sang  these  prayers  with  hands  and  faces  uplifted 
to  the  bright  sky  where  the  gods  dwelt,  and  they  stood 
before  altars  of  stone  or  turf  or  ashes  whereon  were  burn- 


[22] 


WHAT  GREECE  HAD  TO  TEACH  THE  WORLD      23 

ing  sacrifices  of  flesh  or  of  holy  cakes.  Sometimes  the 
altars  were  out  of  doors,  — in  the  woods,  by  the  roadside, 
in  the  street,  in  the  market-place,  —  but  often 
they  had  beautiful  temples  built  about  them. 
Always  there  were  priests  to  tend  them,  and  people 
brought  gifts  of  love  to  deck  the  place.  All  over  the 
Greek  world,  from  Asia  Minor  to  Spain,  were  thousands 
of  these  altars  and  inclosing  temples.  Every  city  had 
scores  of  them.  Every  day  prayers  were  going  up  to  the 
gods,  and  on  festival  days  men  were  singing  hymns  or 
dancing  sacred  dances  in  their  honor. 

The  most  beautiful  of  all  Greek  temples  was  the  Par- 
thenon in  Athens.     It  is,  of  course,  in  ruins  now,  as  all 
ancient  Greek  buildings  are;   for,  during  two 
thousand  years,  rain  and  blowing  dust  have  been  Parthenon 
at  work  wearing  off  the  stone ;   earthquakes 
have  shaken  walls ;   fighting  armies  have  battered  them 
down  -or  blown  them  up  with  powder ;  careless  men  have 
torn  them  to  pieces  to  build  new  houses  or  to  throw  into 
the  lime-kiln.     Yet,   even  to-day,  the  Parthenon  is  so 
beautiful  that  it  makes  a  man's  heart  leap  to  see  it. 

In  ancient  times  it  was  a  low  marble  house  with  a 
porch  on  all  sides  of  it.  A  great  procession  of  columns 
held  up  the  roof.  They  were  big  and  strong  . 
and  solemn,  yet  so  delicately  was  every  one 
curved  as  it  rose  that  it  seemed  not  crushed  down  by  its 
own  great  weight  but  light  and  lithe  like  an  athlete.  In 
the  shade  of  the  high  porch  men  could  walk  and  look  up 
at  a  carved  procession  of  horsemen  and  charioteers  and 
men  and  women  afoot,  going  around  the  building  at  the 
top  of  the  marble  wall.  Above  the  porches  in  the  gable 
ends  were  great  groups  of  marble  statues  large  as  life, 
showing  deeds  of  Athene,  the  goddess  of  the  temple  and 
the  favorite  goddess  of  all  Athens. 


24  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

This  whole  great  building  of  marble  —  marble  walls, 
marble  floors,  marble  columns,  marble  statues,  even 
marble  tiles  on  the  roof  —  was  not  a  mass  of  blinding 
white.  Rather  there  was  a  deep  color  in  the  flutes  of 
the  columns.  Around  the  doors  and  along  the  edges  of 
the  wall  was  a  painted  border  of  leaves.  On  the  peaks 
of  the  gable  and  the  corner  of  the  eaves  were  golden 
ornaments.     The  statues  were  delicately  tinted  so  that 


Greek  Horsemen 

From  the  carved  marble  frieze  that  goes  in  a  band  around  the 
wall  of  the  Parthenon  porch 

the  marble  was  of  the  color  of  flesh,  the  eyes  were  blue, 
and  even  the  garments  were  tinted.     Behind  the  statues 
was  a  reddish  wall  to  set  them  out  clearly  to  men's  eyes. 
Inside  this  temple,  in  a  great  room  where  only  a  soft 

light  entered  through  the  thin  marble  tiles  of 
Athene        ^e  r00^  anc^  through  the  wide  door  that  opened 

toward  the  morning  sun,  was  Phidias'  wonderful 
statue  of  Athene.  She  stood  forty  feet  tall,  gazing  kindly 
down  upon  her  people.     Her  face  and  hands  and  feet 


WHAT  GREECE   HAD  TO  TEACH  THE  WORLD      25 

were  of  soft-gleaming  ivory  perfectly  carved,  and  all  her 
long,  straight-falling  robe  was  gold.  Below  her  curled 
sweet  smoke  from  a  holy  fire  that  burned  always.  On 
her  birthdays  the  room  was  filled  with  her  Athenians 
singing  to  her  and  bringing  gifts. 

The  architect  who  made  that  building  spared  no  trouble 
in  having  it  perfect.     "A  long,  flat  floor  generally  looks 
high  at  the  ends  and  sunken  in  the  middle, "  The 
he  said.     "Now  my  floor  must  look  flat.     So  Builder's 
I  must  raise  it  in  the  middle/'      This  he  did,  Work 
and  every  big  block  of  marble  that  went  into  that  long 
floor  had  to  be  chiseled  carefully  to  fit  the  gentle  curve. 
If  the  floor  curved,  then  every  other  line  must  curve 
to  correspond,  and  the  stonecutters  had  to  chip  delicately 
at  every  block,  as  though  they  had  been  carving  statues. 

Each  column  is  made  of  eight  pieces  piled  one  on  top 
of  another,  yet  so  perfectly  were  they  fitted  that  even 
now,  after  war  and  earthquakes,  there  are  joints  that 
you  cannot  see ;  and  nowhere  is  there  coarse  mortar  to  fill 
cracks  or  to  hold  the  stones  together.  When  it  was  done, 
the  whole  building,  walls  and  floor  and  all,  was  rubbed 
down  in  some  way,  so  that  the  face  of  the  marble  shines 
like  hard  ivory.  Those  old  Greeks  were  willing  to  spend 
time  and  thought  and  care  in  making  beautiful  things. 

In  every  temple,  on  street  corners,  in  the  market-place, 
at  springs  along  the  country  roads,  in  sacred  places  around 
altars,  in  the  courts  of  houses,   were   statues. 

Sta.tu.es 

Hundreds  of  them  have  been  lost.  Perhaps 
people  long  ago  melted  up  the  bronze  ones  in  time  of  war 
to  make  weapons.  Some  of  the  marble  ones  barbarous 
people  threw  into  lime-kilns  and  burned  up  to  make  lime 
to  plaster  their  houses.  But  if  all  those  that  we  have 
found  could  be  brought  together  into  one  place,  they 
would  make  a  large  town  of  marble  and  bronze  people, 


26  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

and  every  one  of  them  would  be  beautiful  and  graceful 
and  perfect,  as  common  people  are  not. 

There  would  be  in  that  silent  company  people  doing 
most  of  the  things  that  ordinary  men  did.  Some  would 
be  driving  chariots  and  riding  horses ;  some  would  be 
throwing  quoits  and  boxing  and  wrestling  and  running. 
Others  would  be  swinging  swords  and  pushing  lances  and 
shooting  arrows.  A  few  would  be  playing  with  babies. 
Some  would  be  bathing  or  putting  on  their  cloaks  or 
tying  their  sandals.  Some  would  be  praying  or  dancing ; 
and  many  would  be  idly  sitting  or  standing  about  waiting 
for  friends,  talking  with  companions,  or  musing  about 
pleasant  things.  Many  of  them  would  be  gods  and  god- 
desses, and  others  would  be  men,  —  orators,  poets, 
athletes,  warriors.  Almost  all  of  them  would  be  sadly 
broken.  The  arms  would  be  gone,  or  the  legs  would  be 
missing,  perhaps  even  the  head  would  be  lost  or  the 
nose  broken  off. 

But  after  a  while  you  would  cease  to  be  troubled  by 
this  broken  condition,  because  in  spite  of  it  the  statues 
would  be  so  beautiful.  The  marble  would  be  creamy 
and  smooth,  the  bronze  would  be  coated  with  soft  green. 
The  bodies  would  be  slender  and  straight-limbed,  with 
firm  muscles  like  a  young  athlete's  body.  The  faces 
would  be  of  lovely  shape,  with  a  gentle,  musing  look. 
Besides,  the  very  fact  that  they  were  broken  would 
make  them  all  the  more  interesting.  It  would  remind 
you  that  they  are  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  years  old, 
that  they  have  seen  wars  and  earthquakes,  that  they 
have  watched  generations  of  men  come  and  go  and  have 
seen  governments  and  civilizations  swept  away  and  new 
ones  established.  Many  of  them  have  been  found  in 
modern  times  buried  in  the  ground,  but  what  accident 
has  brought  them  there  we  seldom  know, 


28 


THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 


For  instance,  the  statue  of  Aphrodite,  or  Venus,  in  the 

picture,  the  goddess  of  love  and  beauty;  was  found  about 

a  hundred  years  ago  on  the  island  of  Melos. 

Melos         A  Greek  peasant  happened  to  see  a  glint  of 

marble  at  the  back  of  a  cave  as  he  passed 

its  mouth  one  day.     Going  in,  he  found  a  statue,  with 

arms  already  broken 
off  and  lost.  He  had 
never  been  taught  to 
know  and  enjoy  beau- 
tiful things,  yet  he 
thought  this  might  be 
worth  taking  home, 
—  any  piece  of  mar- 
ble was.  He  tied  a 
rope  around  it  and, 
harnessing  his  horse 
to  it,  dragged  it  down 
the  stony  road  to  the 
shore. 

It  happened  that  a 
Frenchman  was  visit- 
ing the  island  at  the 
time,  and  when  he 
saw  the  statue  he 
eagerly  bought  it  and  presented  it  to  the  French  king. 
Now  it  is  one  of  the  most  precious  treasures  of  the  Louvre, 
a  great  art  museum  in  Paris,  and  half  the  world  has  learned 
to  love  it.  Many  people  have  tried  to  fancy  what  Aphro- 
dite was  doing  with  those  lost  arms,  how  they  were  bro- 
ken, when  and  why  she  was  hidden,  just  where  she  stood 
originally,  and  who  made  her,  but  we  really  know  almost 
nothing  of  her  history. 

The  statue  of  Hermes  we  know  more  about.     Praxiteles 


Hermes  of  Praxiteles 


WHAT  GREECE  HAD  TO  TEACH  THE  WORLD      29 

made  it,  and  the  Greeks  thought  him  one  of  the  best  of 
their  sculptors.  For  years  it  stood  in  Here's  temple  in 
Olympia,  where  the  great  game-festival  was 
held.  But  after  the  world  became  Christian,  Pre™*teles 
these  games  were  stopped,  and  Olympia  was 
deserted.  An  earthquake  shook  down  the  walls  and 
toppled  over  the  statues.  A  little  river  that  flowed 
near  by  flooded  and  covered  the  ruins  with  sand,  and 
grass  and  trees  grew  above  the  buried  statues.  Then 
at  last,  about  forty  years  ago,  some  Germans  who  loved 
the  beautiful  old  Greek  things  went  to  the  place  and 
dug,  hoping  to  uncover  something  interesting.  Under 
fifteen  feet  of  sand  and  clay  they  found  this  Hermes, 
arms  and  legs  gone,  but  otherwise  perfect.  On  the 
sandal  of  a  broken  foot  they  even  found  the  gilding  that 
the  artist  had  laid  on  two  thousand  years  before. 

The  Olympic  Games 

This  Olympia  where  Hermes  was  found  was  one  of  the 
most  interesting  places  in  Greece.     The  Greeks  thought 
that  the  most  beautiful   thing  in  the  world 
is   the  human  body  when  it   is   properly  de-  GJ1£~ 
veloped.       So  the  whole  afternoon  of  every 
schoolboy's  day  was  given  up  to  gymnastic  exercises. 
Not  only  was  he  taught  to  jump,  to  wrestle,  to  run,  to 
throw  the  disk  and  the  spear,  and  to  dance ;  but  he  was 
given  calisthenic  drills  and  exercises  with  dumb-bells  in 
order  to  make  him  graceful  and  to  strengthen  the  muscles 
that  were  weak.     For  the  purpose  of  all  this  training  was 
not  to  make  professional  athletes  who  should  be  able  to 
do  special  tricks,  but  to  develop  a  strong  and  beautiful 
and  healthy  body. 

Not  only  did  schoolboys  have  this  training,  but  in 
every  town  were  large  free  gymnasiums  for  grown  men, 


30  THE  ANCIENT   WORLD 

and  every  day  all  the  citizens  who  had  any  leisure  went 
there  and  exercised  so  that  they  should  not  grow  weak 
or  too  fat  or  too  lean  as  age  came  upon  them.  These 
exercises,  moreover,  were  out  of  doors ;  for  the  gym- 
nasium was  really  only  a  large  yard  surrounded  by  lines 
of  small,  low  sheds  used  for  dressing  rooms.  There 
was  a  shady  porch  before  these  rooms  where  men 
might  lounge  and  rest  after  the  games,  before  they 
took  the  bath.  Sometimes  the  gymnasium  was  in  a 
grove  of  olive  trees  or  plane  trees,  where  men  strolled 
about. 

The  Greeks,  loving  joy  and  beauty,  believed  that  the 
gods  also  loved  these  things.  One  way  in  which  they 
.  chose  to  please  and  honor  the  gods,  therefore, 
was  to  play  games  for  them  to  see.  There 
were  several  places  in  Greece  where  temples  and  gym- 
nasiums and  race  courses  had  been  built  for  the  purpose 
of  holding  these  game-festivals,  and  Olympia  was  the 
greatest  of  them  all.  For  hundreds  of  years  Greeks  from 
all  over  the  Mediterranean  world  had  gathered  there  for 
the  games.  Building  after  building  had  been  erected 
until  it  was  like  a  city  of  the  gods.  There  were  no  dwell- 
ing houses ;  for  nobody  lived  here  permanently  except  a 
few  priests  to  care  for  the  sacred  place.  When  visitors 
came  every  four  years  to  the  festival,  they  camped  on 
the  plain  in  tents  and  huts. 

But  there  were  temples  —  a  great  one  for  Zeus  and 
another  for  Here,  his  wife.  In  the  Zeus  temple  was  a 
gold  and  ivory  statue  of  the  god.  Phidias, 
who  had  made  the  Parthenon  Athene,  had 
made  this  one  also,  and  most  men  of  the  ancient  world 
thought  it  the  most  beautiful  of  all  statues.  Modern 
men  have  never  seen  it  or  any  other  of  all  the  gold  and 
ivory  statues;    for  some  one  of  the  enemies  of  Greece 


WHAT  GREECE  HAD  TO  TEACH  THE  WORLD 


31 


who  conquered  her  tore  them  all  down,  melted  up  the 
gold  to  coin  money,  and  carved  over  the  ivory  into  little 
statuettes,  perhaps.     But  in  the  time  of  Olym- 
piad glory  two  thousand  years  ago,  the  golden  Zeus 
Zeus  sat  on  his  great  golden  throne,  and  men 
by  hundreds  and  thousands,  from  the  far  corners  of  the 
world,  came  before  the  statue  to  sing  praise  to  the  real 


Temple  of  Zeus  at  Olympia 

It  is  now  in  ruins,  but  the  floor  and  parts  of  columns,  walls,  and  statues  remain. 

From  studying  these  and  from  reading  an  old  Greek  book  which  describes  the 

temple,  a  modern  man  made  this  drawing 


god,  who  was  looking  down,  they  thought,  from  his  high 
throne  in  Olympus,  while  all  the  other  gods  stood  about 
him  to  watch  the  festival.  And  every  one  of  them  had 
his  altar  out  of  doors  somewhere  in  the  sacred  grounds  of 
Olympia. 

For  in  one  way  the  Olympic  games  were  very  unlike 
our  modern  athletic  meets.    Men  went  to  them  to  wor- 


32  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

ship  the  gods,  and  the  first  day  of  the  festival  and  the 
last  were  given  over  to  religious  processions  from  altar  to 
altar,  to  prayers  and  hymns  and  sacrifices,  and  to  the 
presenting  of  gifts  to  the  gods.  Standing  about  these 
temples  and  altars  were  thousands  of  statues  of  gods, 
heroes,  and  athletes.  It  was  like  a  great,  beautiful 
playground  with  men  of  marble  and  bronze  at  exercise. 

Around  the  grounds  went  a  wall  to  keep  all  safe.  Out- 
side were  still  more  interesting  buildings.  Here  was  the 
big  gymnasium  where  men  and  boys  trained  for  nine 
months  to  be  ready  for  the  great  games.  Here  was  the 
open  course  for  the  chariot  races,  and  here  were  the  long 
tiers  of  marble  seats  down  the  straight  track  where  men 
and  boys  ran  and  boxed  and  wrestled  and  leaped  and 
threw  the  disk  and  the  spear. 

On  these  marble  seats  every  four  years  sat  thousands 
of  men  come  from  all  parts  of  the  world  to  watch  the 
Olympic  games.  There  were  Greeks  from  Gaul,  Sicily, 
Africa,  Asia  Minor,  and  the  Black  Sea  country,  come 
home  once  more  to  their  own  beloved  land.  Perhaps 
they  brought  with  them  friendly  Gauls  and  Scythians  and 
Italians  who  were  eager  to  learn  the  Greek  ways.  There 
were  men  from  the  still  older  civilizations  of  the  East  — 
Persians,  Egyptians,  Phoenicians,  Hebrews. 

The  winner  of  an  Olympic  game  had  his  name  and 

his  fame  carried  around  the  world  and  his  story  told  in 

a  score  of  languages.     When  he  went  home  to 

theWinner  n*s  own  c^^'  ^he  PeoP^e  threw  open  the  gates 
and  poured  out  to  meet  him,  crying  his  name 
aloud.     A  chorus  of  young  men  danced  in  his  honor  and 
sang  a  song  that  a  poet  had  written  to  glorify  him. 

Here  is  part  of  such  a  song  written  by  famous  Pindar 
for  the  boy  Asopichus,  winner  of  the  short  foot  race  four 
hundred    seventy-six    years    before    Christ.    When    he 


33  J 


34  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

returned  to  his  home  town,  a  chorus  of  boys  sang  it  in  a 
temple  of  the  Graces.  These  were  the  three  goddesses 
of  song  and  art  and  all  beautiful  and  polite  and  graceful 
things.  Their  lovely  names  occur  in  the  first  part  of 
the  song. 

".  .  .  O  lady  Aglaia,  and  thou  Euphrosyne,  lover  of 
song,  .  .  .  children  of  the  mightiest  of  the  gods,  listen 
and  hear ;  and  thou,  Thalia,  delighting  in  sweet 
£?  .  sounds,  and  look  down  upon  this  triumphal 
Song  company,  moving  with  light  step  under  happy 

fate.  .  .  .  Concerning  Asopichus  am  I  come 
hither  to  sing,  for  that  through  thee,  Aglaia,  in  the 
Olympic  games  [his  city]  is  winner.  Fly,  Echo,  to  Per- 
sephone 's  dark-walled  home  [that  is,  the  land  of  the  dead] 
and  to  his  father  bear  the  noble  tidings,  that  seeing  him 
thou  mayst  speak  to  him  of  his  son,  saying  that  for  his 
father's  honor  in  [Olympia's]  famous  valley  he  hath 
crowned  his  boyish  hair  with  garlands  from  the  glorious 
games." 

The  victor  wore  on  his  hair  a  simple  little  wreath  of 
olive  leaves  in  sign  of  his  triumph.  His  family  would 
treasure  it  forever,  hanging  it  over  their  family  altar  and 
pointing  to  it  with  pride  when  it  should  be  nothing  but 
a  dry  twig.  And  perhaps  his  city  would  erect  his  statue 
in  some  public  spot  and  carve  his  name  below  it,  and  his 
victory.  If  the  boy's  family  was  wealthy,  in  gratitude 
to  the  god  who  had  helped  him  to  win  and  in  love  for 
Olympia  the  glorious,  they  might  set  up  another  statue 
there,  among  all  those  that  crowded  the  sacred  field. 

Greek  Cities 

Most  of  these  Greeks  were  town  dwellers.  To  be  sure, 
there  were  peasants  who  lived  in  the  country,  but  most 
farmers  chose  to  have  their  houses  in  little  villages  and  to 


WHAT  GREECE  HAD  TO  TEACH  THE  WORLD      35 


Three  Greeks 

The  one  at  the  left  is  Hermes,  the  messenger  of  the  gods.  He  has  a  traveler's 
broad  hat  pushed  back  on  his  shoulders.  The  men's  costume  is  such  as  was 
worn  by  all  young  men.     All  women  wore  a  costume  like  that  of  the  central 

figure 


go  out  from  there  to  work  their  fields.  For  the  Greeks 
were  sociable  people,  liking  to  meet  their  neighbors 
often,  liking  to  sing  and  dance  together,  liking  to  hear  the 
news  and  to  talk  politics  and  to  discuss  religion  and 
philosophy.  So  the  country  was  filled  with  thousands 
of  villages  and  hundreds  of  cities. 

Every  little  valley  had  its  great  town  that  was  mistress 


36  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

of  the  land  and  people  round  about  it.  The  mountains 
cut  it  off  from  its  next  neighbor,  and  there  was  little 
travel  across  the  ranges.  So  the  people  of  each  valley 
came  to  have  their  own  ways  of  thinking  and  doing 
things,  their  own  king  or  leader,  their  own  patron  god, 
even  their  own  dialect.  The  people  of  one  valley  felt 
very  closely  bound  together  and  very  loyal  to  their  own 
city  and  very  sure  that  their  own  god,  their  own  speech, 
their  own  ways,  were  best.  They  were  often  scornful  of 
their  neighbors'  customs  and  sadly  jealous  and  likely  to 
fly  to  arms.  So  every  town  had  its  wall  to  protect  it  in 
time  of  war. 

There  were,  indeed,  great  differences  among  the  cities ; 
and  a  stranger  going  to  Greece  to  choose  a  home  would 
have  had  a  difficult  time  deciding  among  all 
the  interesting  and  varied  places.  There 
was,  for  instance,  Sparta.  There  the  people  were  ruled 
by  very  strict  laws.  The  whole  aim  of  a  Spartan's  life 
was  to  be  a  brave  soldier  and  to  fight  for  his  city. 
Everything  he  did  from  the  time  he  was  a  little  boy 
was  done  to  help  accomplish  this  purpose.  He  was 
taken  away  from  his  home  and  his  mother,  and  he 
lived  in  a  military  camp  among  men  and  boys.  Every 
day  he  had  military  drill  and  gymnastic  exercises,  and 
that  was  his  school.  He  had  coarse  food  and  coarse 
clothes  —  only  one  tunic  a  year.  He  had  to  forage  for 
his  food.  He  had  to  learn  to  endure  hunger  and  pain 
without  murmuring.  In  fact  he  lived  always  like  a 
soldier. 

There  was  very  little  beauty  in  Sparta.  The  houses 
were  rough  buildings  of  squared  logs.  The  furniture  was 
scanty  and  crude.  There  were  few  vases  or  pictures  or 
statues  in  the  whole  city.  There  were  temples,  but 
they  were  not  lovely  like  the  Parthenon.    Yet  if  you 


WHAT  GREECE  HAD  TO  TEACH  THE  WORLD      37 


A  Greek  Potter  at  Work 

He  is  painting  a  vase.  Notice  how  he  holds  his  brush.  Athene,  the  goddess 
of  handicraft,  is  going  to  crown  him.     The  spear  and  helmet  show  her  also  as 

goddess  of  war 

count  courage  and  temperance  and  love  of  country  as 
enough  virtue  for  men  to  possess,  then  you  would  have 
chosen  Sparta  as  the  noblest  of  all  Greek  states.  Plu- 
tarch, an  ancient  Greek  writer  and  a  lover  of  Sparta, 
says:  "No  man  was  at  liberty  to  live  as  he  pleased,  the 
city  being  like  one  great  camp  where  all  had  their  stated 
allowance  and  knew  their  public  charge,  each  man  con- 
cluding that  he  was  born,  not  for  himself,  but  for  his 
country.  .  .  .  [They  thought]  nothing  more  disagreeable 
than  to  live  by  (or  for)  themselves.  Like  bees,  they  acted 
with  one  impulse  for  the  public  good,  and  always  assem- 
bled about  their  prince.  They  were  possessed  with  a 
thirst  of  honor,  an  enthusiasm  bordering  upon  insanity, 
and  had  not  a  wish  but  for  their  country." 


38  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

But  if  you  had  wanted  kind  family  love  and  a  com- 
fortable home ;  if  you  had  wanted  to  go  to  good  schools 
and  get  learning ;  if  you  had  wanted  to  live  among  beau- 
tiful things,  and  to  meet  travelers  from  distant  lands ;  if 
you  had  wanted  to  hear  poets  and  philosophers  talk  and 
see  artists  at  work,  you  would  not  have  chosen  Sparta. 

It  might  have  been  iEgina,  whose  men  were  sailors 
and  even  pirates,  some  of  them.  It  might  have  been 
Chalcis,  the  busy  and  prosperous  city  of  bronze 
Ofrer  workers,    the    mother    of   more    than    twenty 

colonies.  Or  you  might  have  chosen  Corinth, 
the  famous  merchant  town,  where  ships  were  always 
going  and  coming,  and  foreign  traders  were  walking  the 
streets,  where  the  best  vases  of  Greece  were  made,  and 
where  great  sculptors  worked. 

Athens 

But  probably  you  would  have  chosen  Athens,  the  city 
of  the  greatest  poets  and  architects  and  painters  and 
sculptors  in  the  world,  and  of  famous  orators  and  brave 
generals.  Here,  as  in  every  Greek  city,  was  an  Acropo- 
lis, or  hill,  as  the  heart  of  the  town.  This  in  earlier 
times  had  been  a  fort,  placed  for  safety  where  the  steep 
hillsides  were  difficult  for  the  enemy  to  climb.  The 
town  was  clustered  at  the  foot.  But  later  a  wall  had 
been  run  around  the  whole  city.  Then  the  Acropolis, 
safe  inside  the  wall,  had  become,  not  the  fort,  but  the 
sacred  place,  where  the  most  holy  temples  and  statues 
were. 

It  was  a  shining  glory  of  marble.     The  Parthenon  was 

there.     It  stood  high  above  the  city,  clearly  to  be  seen; 

and  I  think  that  Athenians  must  have  lifted 
Acropolis  . 

eager  eyes  to  it  early  every  morning.     But  it 

did  not  stand  alone  on  the  flat  hilltop.     Near  it  was 


WHAT  GREECE  HAD  TO  TEACH  THE  WORLD      39 

another  temple  of  Athene,  with  delicate  carvings  and 
a  marvelous  porch  with  maidens'  figures  for  columns. 
Surrounding  both  the  temples  were  statues  of  marble 
and  bronze.     The  road  that  wound  up  the  western  end 


The  Acropolis  of  Athens 

of  the  hill  near  the  top  met  a  wide  marble  stairway,  that 
climbed  to  broad  porches  before  the  bronze  entrance 
doors  of  the  sacred  ground. 

Into  the  stony  side  of  the  Acropolis  was  cut  a  huge 
half  circle,  and  marble  benches  were  built  here,  tier  above 
tier,  until  there  was  room  to  seat  all  the  people  of  Athens, 
facing  a  stage  and  a  dancing-circle.  This  was  the  theater, 
sacred  to  Dionysus,  the  god  of  the  vineyard  and  of  wine, 
god  of  joy  and  the  dance.  Once  every  year  plays  were 
held  in  his  honor,  and  Athenians  saw  acted  out  old  stories 
of  their  heroes  and  their  gods.  Leading  from  one  of  the 
theater  doors  was  a  street,  lined  on  both  sides  with  grace- 


40  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

ful  little  monuments  of  marble,  topped  with  bronze 
tripods,  won  by  the  men  who  had  given  the  best  plays. 
And  beautiful  things  those  old  plays  are ;  they  have  been 
read  and  studied  and  imitated  by  men  of  all  times. 

The  high-lifted  buildings  on  the  Acropolis  were  the 
chief  beauty  of  Athens,  but  not  its  only  one.  There 
were  scores  of  temples,  small  and  large,  scat- 
Scenes  tered  through  the  city,  no  one  of  them  so 
beautiful  as  the  Parthenon,  but  all  of  them 
built  on  much  the  same  plan  and  all  of  them  lovely. 
Here  and  there  along  the  streets  were  fountains  —  little 
streams  of  water  falling  into  carved  marble  basins,  where 
the  maidservants  came  every  morning  early  with  vases 
on  their  heads,  to  get  water  for  their  households. 

The  city  wall  stood  high  and  broad  with  nine  gates, 

where  the  citizens  might  go  out  and  in.     It  was  about 

five  miles  around.     A  man  could  walk  from 

end  to  end  of  the  town  in  half  an  hour.     Inside 

this  small  space  was  crowded  a  city  of  over  a  hundred 

and   fifty   thousand   people.     There   was   no   room   for 

lawns    or    parks.     Houses    were    built    close 
Streets 

together,   and  their  fronts  were  on  the  very 

street.     Those   streets   were  narrow   and  unpaved   and 

without  sidewalks ;    because  the  ground  was  hilly,  they 

were  crooked,  winding  about  on  the  level  places. 

The  houses  were  uninteresting  from  the  outside  with 

their  flat  roofs  and  blank  walls  with  only  one  great  door. 

But  the  best  of  them  must  have  been  pleasant 

to  live  in ;    for  when  the  great  door  was  passed, 

the  home-comer  walked  down  a  short  hall  and  came  to 

a  court  open  to  the  clear  sky,   with  a  fountain,  perhaps, 

playing   in   the   center.     Before   the   entrance   stood   a 

little  altar  of  Zeus,  the  protector  of  strangers,  for  all 

Greeks  were  hospitable, ,  and  liked  to  entertain  guests. 


A  Greek  Lady  and  Her  Slave 

These  figures  are  carved  on  a  Greek  gravestone.     The  seated  lady  represents 
the  one  who  is  dead.     She  is  examining  her  jewel  box  brought  by  the  slave 


[41 


42  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

All  about  was  a  porch,  and  back  of  this  opened  shallow 
rooms  with  only  draperies  to  shut  them  off.  Many  of 
these  were  guest  rooms. 

Behind  this  court  was  another  and  larger  one,  with 
shrubs  and  perhaps  a  tree  or  two  to  make  it  green  and 
cool.  This  one  was  sacred  to  the  family,  and  visitors  only 
rarely  came  here.  There  were  pleasant  porches  about, 
where  the  women  sat  to  spin  and  embroider.  Children 
romped  here,  swinging,  rolling  hoops,  playing  knuckle- 
bones. Around  this  court,  also,  were  airy  rooms  where 
the  family  lived  and  worked.  Here,  too,  was  an  altar, 
this  one  to  Hestia,  goddess  of  the  hearth  and  home ;  and 
every  morning  she  received  loving  sacrifice  and  prayer. 

These  houses  were  pleasant  and  comfortable,  but  were 
not  very  large  and  not  costly.  Sometimes  the  walls 
were  of  rough  stone,  sometimes  of  sun-dried  brick.  There 
was  little  furniture ;  and  while  it  was  beautiful,  it  was 
very  simple,  too,  for  the  Athenians  hated  extravagance. 
" Nothing  too  much"  was  a  common  Greek  motto. 
Moreover,  an  Athenian  man  spent  much  of  his  time  in 
the  public  places  of  the  city,  and  it  was  these  that  he  felt 
should  have  care  and  money  spent  upon  them  to  beautify 
them. 

The  market-place  was  an  open  paved  square  in  the 

center  of  the  city.     It  was   ornamented  with  statues, 

and  about  the  sides  were  beautiful  little  marble 

7?®  buildings  where   the   officers   of  the   city  did 

Market-  .     .        °    .  _    .  „     •  _  J      . 

place  their  work,  and  m  one  of  them  was  the  city 

hearth,  with  its  undying,  holy  fire.  Along 
one  side  of  the  square  was  a  covered  walk,  with  columns 
supporting  the  roof.  The  back  wall  of  this  portico  was 
painted  with  pictures  from  brave  Athenian  history. 
This  "  Painted  Porch/'  as  it  was  called,  was  one  of  the 
favorite  lounging  places  of  Athens. 


WHAT  GREECE  HAD  TO  TEACH  THE  WORLD      43 

Meetings  were  sometimes  held  in  this  market-place; 
and  on  festival  nights  sacred  dances  were  given  here, 
and  holy  hymns  sung.  But  the  chief  use  of  it  was  for 
buying  and  selling.  Practically  all  the  trading  of  the 
city  was  done  here.  Every  forenoon  it  was  the  noisiest, 
busiest,  most  crowded  place  in  Athens.  Dozens  of  little 
tables  cluttered  the  open  square,  some  with  awnings  to 
shade  them,  all  heaped  with  interesting  produce.  At 
every  one  stood  a  merchant,  calling  his  wares,  perhaps 
striking  a  gong  to  attract  attention.  And  walking  about 
from  table  to  table  were  Athenian  men,  buying  —  fine 
gentlemen  selecting  food  for  the  evening  banquet,  gay 
young  fellows  choosing  perfume,  serious  millers  and 
manufacturers  inspecting  samples  of  wheat  and  leather 
and  wool. 

They  could  find  there  everything  that  was  produced 
in  the  whole  Mediterranean  world  —  fresh  fish  from  the 
Gulf  sparkling  three  miles  away,  and  salt  fish  from  the 
Black  Sea;  goat's  meat  and  mutton,  milk  and  cheese 
and  butter,  vegetables  and  fruits,  wine  and  olive  oil 
from  the  farms  round  about  Athens;  wild  honey  from 
the  mountains ;  garlands  of  flowers  from  the  meadows 
and  river  banks;  shoes,  hats,  cloaks,  vases,  and  bread 
from  the  shops  of  the  city;  statuettes  and  jewelry  from 
the  artists'  benches ;  armor  and  swords  and  knives  and 
pots  from  the  forges  of  bronze  and  iron  workers ;  painted 
scrolls  and  fine  linen  and  curious  objects  from  Egypt; 
medicines  imported  from  the  African  colonies ;  oint- 
ments and  perfumes  and  boxes  of  sweet-smelling  wood 
from  Arabia;  carved  ivory  combs  and  brilliant  rugs 
from  distant  India ;  skins  and  leather  from  Scythia ; 
salt  and  dyestuffs  from  Spain ;  tin  from  far-away  Britain. 

How  did  all  these  things  come  to  Athens?  Three 
miles  away  was  her  port,  Piraeus.     The  harbor  shores 


44  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

were  lined  with  storehouses,  not  ugly  things  of  red  iron 
or  dirty  brick,  but  long,  graceful  buildings  of  white  mar- 
ble, with  stone  steps  leading  into  the  water. 
Here  the  little  Greek  ships,  with  their  square 
sails  and  their  twenty  or  thirty  oars,  were  going  and  com- 
ing continually.  The  marble  docks  were  filled  with  slaves 
carrying  goods  on  their  backs,  with  captains  giving  or- 
ders, with  merchants  buying  wheat,  with  money  lenders 
giving  little  bags  of  clinking  coin  to  the  outbound 
traders.  And  in  the  harbor,  on  guard,  were  long  ships 
of  war,  with  their  three  banks  of  oars  and  their  sharp, 
bronze  beak  at  the  prow,  ready  to  ram  the  enemy. 

The  town  of  Piraeus  had  straight,  broad  streets  and  fine, 
marble  houses  —  a  spick  and  span  new  town,  neater  but 
less  lovely  than  her  mother,  Athens.  She,  also,  had  a 
wall  to  protect  her.  The  road  that  led  to  Athens  had  to 
be  made  safe ;  otherwise,  in  time  of  war,  an  army  might 
have  camped  between  the  two  towns,  have  cut  off  Athens' 
supplies  from  the  sea,  and  starved  her  people.  So  a  high 
wall  stretched  straight  on  both  sides  of  the  road,  making  it 
like  a  giant's  fenced  lane.  These  "  Long  Walls,"  as  people 
called  them,  made  one  city  of  Pirseus  and  Athens. 

All  these  dignified  temples,  planted  thickly  through 
the  city,  these  pleasant  porticoes  and  graceful  monu- 
ments and  fountains  along  the  streets,  these  statues 
that  graced  the  Acropolis  and  the  market  and  the 
temples,  these  theaters  and  gymnasiums  and  public 
groves,  the  orderliness  and  roominess  and  elegance  of 
Pirseus,  made  Athens  the  most  beautiful  city  in 
p  e  .  the  world.     Visitors  from  every  shore  journeyed 

to  her  to  enjoy  her  beauty.  Young  artists 
went  there  to  work  under  her  great  painters  and  sculp- 
tors and  architects.  Poets  and  philosophers  gathered 
there,  because  Athens  appreciated  and  inspired  them. 


WHAT  GREECE  HAD  TO  TEACH  THE   WORLD 


45 


Merchants  and  workmen  from  other  states  flocked  to 
Athens,  because  there  they  could  find  work  and  a  good 
living.  It  was  a  city  not  only  beautiful  but  well-ruled, 
well-policed,  prosperous,  and  happy.  She  was,  as  one 
of  her  own  great  men  called  her,  "the  school  of  Greece." 

Education 

The  men  who  crowded  the  market-place  and  the  docks 
were  not  ignorant  sailors  and  traders.  All  but  the  very 
poorest  of  them  had  been  to  school  from  the  time  they 


Notice  the  "  Long  Walls  "  between  Athens  and  Piraeus 

were  seven  until  they  were  eighteen.  Plato,  an  old  Greek 
writer,  says:  "[His  parents]  send  the  child  to  teachers, 
and  enjoin  them  to  see  to  his  manners  even  more  than 
to  his  reading  and  music ;  and  the  teachers  do  as  they 
are  desired.  And  when  the  boy  has  learned  his  letters 
and  is  beginning  to  understand  what  is  written,  .  .  .  they 
put  into  his  hands  the  works  of  great  poets,  which  he 
reads  at  school.  In  these  are  contained  many  admoni- 
tions and  many    tales   and  praises   of   ancient   famous 


46 


THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 


A  A  M 


School 


This  and  the  next  picture  are  painted  on  the  inside  of  a  shallow,  round  drinking 
cup.  At  the  left  a  boy  is  learning  to  sing,  while  the  teacher  accompanies  him 
on  the  double  flute.  In  the  middle  a  teacher  is  correcting  a  boy's  exercise, 
written  on  a  wax  tablet.  At  the  right  a  slave  is  waiting  to  take  the  boys  home. 
On  the  wall  hang  a  book  or  scroll,  a  wax  tablet,  a  lyre,  a  drawing-square 

men,  which  he  "is  required  to  learn  by  heart,  in  order 
that  he  may  imitate  them  and  desire  to  become  like 
them. 

"Then  again  the  teachers  of  the  lyre  take  similar  care 
that  their  young  disciple  is  temperate  and  gets  into  no 
mischief.  And  when  they  have  taught  him  the 
use  of  the  lyre,  they  introduce  him  to  the  poems 
of  other  excellent  poets,  who  are  the  lyric  poets,  and 
these  they  set  to  music,  and  make  their  harmonies  and 
rhythms  quite  familiar  to  the  children,  in  order  that 
they  may  learn  to  be  more  gentle  and  harmonious  and 
rhythmical,  and  so  more  fitted  for  speech  and  action; 
for  the  life  of  man  in  every  part  has  need  of  harmony 
and  rhythm.  Then  they  send  them  to  the  master  of 
gymnastics,  in  order  that  their  bodies  may  better  minister 
to  the  virtuous  mind,  and  that  the  weakness  of  their 
bodies  may  not  force  them  to  play  the  coward  in  war,  or 
on  any  other  occasion." 

After  the  boy  was  eighteen,  perhaps  he  joined  a  phi- 


WHAT  GREECE  HAD   TO  TEACH  THE   WORLD      47 


.t  the  left  a  boy  is  learning  to  play  the  lyre.  In  the  middle  a  boy  is  reciting 
rhile  the  teacher  holds  the  scroll.  A  slave  waits.  On  the  wall  are  two  drink- 
ing cups,  two  lyres,  a  lunch  basket,  and  a  flute 


(osopher's  class  and  studied  about  more  difficult  things 

geometry,  astronomy,  religion,  science,  rhet- 
oric.    These  classes  were  not  held  in  buildings, 

our  college  classes  are,  but  in  the  shelter  of  the  porch 
of  the  gymnasium,  or  in  the  covered  walk  beside  the 
market-place,  or  under  the  trees  in  the  park.  Nor  did 
the  students  sit  at  desks  with  pads  and  pencils,  but  in 
friendly  fashion  on  benches  or  on  the  floor  of  the  porch, 
or  they  strolled  up  and  down  the  walks,  while  the  master 
talked.  Grown  men,  too,  often  listened  to  the  class  and 
entered  into  the  discussion. 

Some  of  the  things  they  discussed  were  great  scien- 
tific problems;  and  the  decisions  they  came  to  guided 
men's  thinking  for  hundreds  of  years  and  en- 
lightened the  minds  of  people  all  over  the  world. 
They  talked  of  the  stars  and  the  sun  and  the  moon.  They 
discussed  the  causes  of  eclipses  and  of  the  change  in  the 
length  of  day.  Some  of  them  believed  that  the  earth 
and  the  planets  revolve  about  the  sun,  and  that  it  is  the 
sun  that  lights  the  moon.     They  knew  that  the  earth  is 


Learning 


48 


THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 


a  sphere,  and  they  considered  how  to  divide  it  by  merid-. 

ians  of  longitude   and  parallels  of  latitude,  and  so  to 

determine  locations  of  places. 
They  studied  geometry,  as 
we  now  study  it  in  our  high 
schools  and  colleges,  draw- 
ing figures,  finding  the  areas 
of  squares  and  circles  and 
triangles,  and  the  contents 
of  cubes  and  spheres  and 
cylinders.  They  discussed 
what  the  earth  is  made  of, 
and  what  existed  before  the 
earth,  and  how  man  and  the 
animals  were  created.  They 
speculated  about  whether  or 
not  the  soul  is  immortal, 
about  what  makes  beauty 
and  ugliness,  about  what 
light  is,  and  how  sound 
is  caused.  And  a  hundred 
other  things  they  discussed, 
which  our  astronomers  and 
geometers  and  scientists  and 
philosophers  are  still  dis- 
cussing. 

One    of    the    greatest    of 

these  teachers  was  Socrates. 

He    was    a    poor 

Socrates 

man,  a  stonecutter 
by  trade.  Yet  he  devoted 
his  life  to  the  good  of  his  fellow  citizens.  Xenophon, 
one  of  his  friends,  in  writing  about  him  says:  "He  was 
constantly  in  public ;   for  he  went  in  the  morning  to  the 


Socrates 

His  name  and  one  of  his  sayings  are 
carved  in  Greek  letters  on  the  marble 


WHAT  GREECE  HAD  TO  TEACH  THE  WORLD      49 

places  for  walking,  and  to  the  gymnasiums ;  at  the  time 
when  the  market  was  full,  he  was  to  be  seen  there ;  and 
the  rest  of  the  day  he  was  where  he  was  likely  to  meet 
the  greatest  number  of  people ;  he  was  generally  engaged 
in  discourse,  and  all  who  pleased  were  at  liberty  to  hear 
him."  Young  men,  especially,  nocked  around  him  to 
listen  and  to  learn  wisdom;  yet  he  never  took  classes 
for  money,  because  he  thought  he  was  not  wise  enough 
to  teach. 

His  purpose  in  thus  going  about  the  city  and  talking 
with  all  men,  high  and  low,  he  himself  explained.  "  While 
I  have  life  and  strength  I  shall  never  cease  from  the 
practice  and  teaching  of  philosophy,  exhorting  any  one 
whom  I  meet  after  my  manner,  .  .  .  saying:  *0  my  friend, 
why  do  you,  who  are  a  citizen  of  the  great  and  mighty 
and  wise  city  of  Athens,  care  so  much  about  laying  up 
the  greatest  amount  of  money  and  honor  and  reputation, 
and  so  little  about  wisdom  and  truth  and  the  greatest 
improvement  of  the  soul,  which  you  never  regard  or  heed 
at  all  ?    Are  you  not  ashamed  of  this  V" 

As  we  look  back  at  Socrates  now,  we  see  that  he  lived 
a  wonderfully  pure,  unselfish,  and  useful  life,  and  many 
of  his  fellow  Athenians  thought  so,  too.  Xenophon  says  : 
"Of  those  who  knew  what  sort  of  man  Socrates  was, 
such  as  were  lovers  of  virtue  continue  to  regret  him 
above  all  other  men,  even  to  the  present  day,  as  having 
contributed  in  the  highest  degree  to  their  advancement  in 
goodness.  To  me,  being  such  as  I  have  described  him, 
so  pious  that  he  did  nothing  without  sanction  of  the  gods ; 
so  just  that  he  wronged  no  man,  even  in  the  most  trifling 
affair,  but  was  of  service  in  the  most  important  matters 
to  those  who  enjoyed  his  society;  so  temperate  that  he 
never  preferred  pleasure  to  virtue ;  so  wise  that  he  never 
erred   in  distinguishing   better  from  worse,  needing  no 


50  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

counsel  from  others,  but  being  sufficient  in  himself  to 
discriminate  between  them ;  so  able  to  explain  and  settle 
such  questions  by  argument ;  and  so  capable  of  discern- 
ing the  character  of  others,  of  confuting  those  who  were 
in  error,  and  of  exhorting  them  to  virtue  and  honor,  he 
seemed  to  be  such  as  the  best  and  happiest  of  men  would 
be." 

Yet  he  made  many  enemies.  When  he  reproached  a 
man  with  being  dishonest  and  proved  another  one  un- 
duly conceited  or  showed  the  selfishness  of  a  third,  these 
people  sometimes,  instead  of  being  thankful  to  Socrates 
for  making  their  faults  known  to  them  and  instead  of 
trying  to  reform,  grew  angry  and  hated  him.  And  when 
vain  people  are  angry,  they  are  likely  to  say  all  kinds  of 
false  things. 

Finally  this  charge  was  made  against  Socrates:  " Soc- 
rates offends  against  the  laws  in  not  paying  respect  to 
those  gods  whom  the  city  respects  and  in  intro- 
ducing other  new  deities ;  he  also  offends 
against  the  laws  in  corrupting  the  youth."  He  was  tried 
in  court,  and  in  spite  of  all  his  friends  could  do  and  in 
spite  of  his  good  and  noble  life  he  was  sentenced  to  death. 
He  died  bravely,  even  smilingly,  and  without  a  murmur 
at  the  injustice  of  his  fellow  citizens,  refusing  to  let  his 
friends  buy  his  pardon  or  bribe  the  prison  guards  to  allow 
his  escape,  because  he  thought  such  things  were  dis- 
honorable. 

Nor  did  he  fear  death,  but  rather  welcomed  it.  "Let 
a  man  be  of  good  cheer  about  his  soul,"  he  said,  "who  has 
cast  away  the  pleasures  and  ornaments  of  the  body  as 
alien  to  him,  ...  and  has  followed  after  the  pleasures  of 
knowledge  in  this  life ;  who  has  adorned  the  soul  in  her 
own  proper  jewels,  which  are  temperance  and  justice 
and  courage  and  nobility  and  truth  —  in  these  arrayed 


WHAT  GREECE  HAD   TO  TEACH  THE  WORLD      51 

she  is  ready  to  go  on  her  journey  to  the  world  below  when 

her  time  comes." 

Government 

Such  an  education  as  the  Athenians  received  and  such 
busy  and  interesting  lives  as  they  led  made  freedom-loving 
men.  They  had  early  done  away  with  kings,  and  ruled 
themselves.  On  the  Pnyx  hill  in  Athens  was  arranged 
an  open-air  meeting  place  with  a  platform  for  speakers. 
Here,  about  four  times  every  month,  came  all  the  free- 
men of  Athens,  rich  and  poor,  to  elect  their  officers,  to 
make  their  laws,  to  levy  taxes,  to  decide  on  matters  of 
war  and  commerce  and  building. 

The  government  was  what  we  call  a  democracy,  not  a 
republic   like  ours.     We  elect  men  to  do  our  country's 
business  for  us ;  in  Athens  every  citizen  directly 
voted  on  all  questions.     Such  a  thing  is  not  pos- 
sible except  in  a  small  state:  in  all  Attica  (the  state  ruled 
by  Athens)  there  were  not  more  than  50,000  voters. 

Pericles,  one  of  the  greatest  of  Athenians,  spoke  of  his 
city's  government  much  as  follows:  "It  is  called  a  de- 
mocracy because  it  is  carried  on  for  the  benefit  not  of 
the  few  but  of  the  many.  Before  its  laws  all  men  enjoy 
equality  in  the  matter  of  their  private  affairs ;  while,  in 
regard  to  public  rank,  every  man  is  given  office  accord- 
ing to  his  merit.  No  man  is  prevented  by  poverty  or 
obscurity  from  doing  the  state  any  good  service  of  which 
he  is  capable."  Any  Athenian  freeman  might  hold  any 
office  of  his  country,  just  as  in  America.  Indeed,  the 
Athenians  went  one  step  further  in  their  desire  to  give 
every  man  a  chance  to  work  for  the  state :  some  officers 
they  chose  by  lot. 

Yet  two  faults  prevented  this  government  from  being 
the  perfect  thing  that  it  seems.  One  was  this :  no  for- 
eigner might  ever  get  the  right  to  vote,  not  though  he 


52 


THE  ANCIENT   WORLD 


lived  and  worked  in  Athens  for  many  years ;  nor  might 
his  sons  or  grandsons  after  him  become  Athenian  citizens. 
And  " foreigners"  to  Athenians  meant  not  only  Persians 
and  Egyptians  but  men  from  any  other  state  than  Attica, 
even  Spartans  and  Thebans.  Another  great  fault  was 
this :  there  were  more  slaves  in  the  country  than  freemen, 
and  they,  of  course,  had  no  voice  in  making  laws  or  in 
planning  their  lives.  Freedom  of  all  men  and  the  right 
of  all  men  to  vote  did  not  come  in  any  country  for  many 
hundred  years. 

While  Athens  had  a  democracy,  other  Greek  cities  had 

different  forms  of  government.     There  were  kings  in  some 

states.     In  others  there  were   tyrants,  or  men 

Forms  w^°  ^°^  ^e  Power  m^°  their  own  hands  and 
ruled  until  a  rebellion  or  some  turn  of  affairs 
expelled  them.  Sometimes  a  small  number  of  people  from 
old,  noble  families  or  from  rich  families  controlled  the 
city.  And  in  most  of  the  states  the  government  fre- 
quently changed,  as  people  became  dissatisfied.  All  of 
them  began  with  kings,  even  as  Athens  did ;  most  of  them 
at  one  time  or  another  were  seized  by  tyrants ;  and  many 
of  them  tried  a  democracy  for  a  longer  or  a  shorter  time. 
Every  Greek  had  an  interest  in  government  and  a 
sense  of  freedom  that  no  other  ancient  people  felt,  except 
the  Romans.  And  because  of  this  freedom  and  the  love 
of  it  these  little  quarrelsome  states  did  many  brave  and 
notable  things,  and  the  bravest  work  of  all,  I  think,  was 
the  Persian  war. 


1.  Make  a  cardboard  model  of  a  Greek  house.  (Plan  on  page 
36,  Gardner  and  Jevons,  Manual  of  Greek  Antiquities.)  2.  Look 
at  the  buildings  around  you  and  see  whether  any  of  them  have  copied 
anything  Greek.  3.  Are  there  any  places  in  your  neighborhood  that 
the  Athenians  would  have  beautified  ?  4.  What  things  were  necessary 
to  make  a  person  an  Athenian  citizen?    What  is  necessary  in  America? 


Persian  Soldiers 

At  the  sides  are  common  foot-soldiers.  One  car- 
ries a  bow  over  his  shoulder,  the  other  has  his  in 
a  case  at  his  side.  The  two  central  figures  are 
men  of  the  king's  guard  with  the  head-dress  of 
nobles.  Notice  the  bow  and  •  quiver  at  the  back 
of  the  one  on  the  left 


CHAPTER  III 

GREECE  AND   HER  NEIGHBORS 
The  Persian  War 

By  490  B.C.  Persia,  over  in  Asia,  had  become  the 
greatest  country  in  the  world  —  the  richest  and  the 
largest,  stretching  from  India  to  the  African  desert. 
She  had  conquered  Egypt,  old  Babylonia  and  Assyria, 
Phoenicia,  Palestine,  a  score  of  old  and  new  nations,  and 
all  the  Greek  cities  in  Asia  Minor  and  Thrace.  In  fact 
she  had  conquered  all  the  eastern  world  except  Greece. 
Of  course  she  was  not  willing  to  allow  an  exception. 

Now  Greece  was  only  a  little  spot  compared  with  the 
great  empire  of  Persia,  so  when  the  king  sent  messengers 
to  the  cities  of  this  little  country,  asking  them  for  earth 
and  water  as  a  sign  that  they  recognized  him  as  master 
of  all  lands  and  lord  of  all  the  seas,  he  thought  that  surely 
they  would  send  it,  out  of  fear.  And  some  of  them,  to 
their  shame,  did  it ;  but  the  Athenians  threw  the  messen- 

53 


54 


THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 


gers  over  a  cliff  as  they  did  their  criminals,  and  the  Spar- 
tans threw  them  into  a  well,  saying,  "  Take  earth  and 
water  from  there."  Then  King  Darius  in  wrath  sent  a 
great  fleet  across,  and  the  ships  of  that  fleet  the  con- 
quered Phoenicians  and  the  conquered   Greeks  of   Asia 


Compare  the  size  of  Greece  with  the  size  of  Persia 

Minor  had  to  supply ;    for  Persia  was  an  inland  country 
and  had  no  boats. 

When  that  great  fleet  landed  in  Attica,  there  was  only 
a  little  army  of  Athenians  with  a  few  of  their  good  friends, 

the  Platseans,  to  meet  them ;  for,  as  usual,  the 
Battle  of  other  states  were  jealous  and  distrustful  of  one 
400  B  c       another  or  thought  that  there  was  no  hurry. 

But  in  the  face  of  this  Asiatic  host  that  was 
perhaps  three  times  its  number  the  little  army  waited 
until  a  favorable  moment,  when  the  Persians  were  off 
their  guard.  Then  the  Greeks  charged  at  the  run, 
pushing  the  enemy  into  the  water,  slew  more  than 
6000  of  them,  burned  some  of  their  ships,  and  sent 
them  back  to  Persia  beaten. 

This  was   the   battle  of    Marathon,    which  for  hun- 


GREECE  AND  HER  NEIGHBORS 


55 


dreds  of  years  the  Athenians  celebrated  as  their  bravest 
victory.  "They  first  endured  the  sight  of  the  Medic  garb 
and  the  men  that 
wore  it,"  Herod- 
otus says  of 
the  warriors  of 
Marathon;  "but 
until  that  time 
the  very  name  of 
the  Medes  [or 
Persians]  was  a 
terror  to  the 
Greeks." 

The  Persian 
king  was  eager 
for  revenge  for 
this  defeat,  but 
other  wars 
busied  him  for 
a  time ;  and 
then  he  died. 
The  installing  of 

the  new  king,  Xerxes,  still  further  delayed  vengeance,  so 
that  there  were  ten  years  of  waiting.     And   marvelous 
use  the  Athenians  made  of  that  time  under 
the  advice  of  Themistocles,  one  of  the  ablest  ^ork.of 
citizens  Athens  ever  had.     Plutarch,   an  old  tocles 
Greek  writer,    says,    "While    others  imagined 
the  defeat  of  the  Persians  at  Marathon  had  put  an  end  to 
the  war,  [Themistocles]  considered  it  as  the  beginning  of 
greater  conflicts ;  and  for  the  general  benefit  of  Greece  he 
was  preparing  himself  and  the  Athenians  against  those 
conflicts,  because  he  foresaw  them  at  a  distance." 

He  knew  that  the  Persians  would  come  by  sea.     There- 


A  Persian  King 

As  a  Greek  vase-painter  drew  him,  showing  the  East- 
ern gorgeousness 


56 


THE   ANCIENT  WORLD 


fore  he  urged  the  Athenians  to  build  ships  of  war;  for 
up  to  that  time  they  had  fought  little  on  water.  He  per- 
suaded, pleaded,  threatened,  talked  in  the  street,  in  the 
market,  in  the  barber  shops,  at  banquets,  in  the  public 
assembly,  until  he  succeeded  in  getting  the  Athenians  to 
make  a  port  at  Pirseus  and  to  build  200  ships. 

Then  the  Persians  descended  upon  them  again  with  a 
great  army  moving  down  the  coasts  and  a  thousand 
vessels  sailing  beside  it.  Nothing  could  stop  Xerxes,  the 
Great  King.  He  built  a  bridge  of  boats  across  the  Helles- 
pont and  cut  a  canal  through  a  rocky 
neck  of  land,  that  his  ships  might  avoid 
a  stormy  headland.  Millions  of  men  he 
had,  it  was  said,  drawn  from  all  the  na- 
tions of  the  Persian  empire  —  Scythians 
and  barbarians  from  the  North,  Arabs  and 
Egyptians  and  savage  African  tribes  from 
the  South,  the  polished  Greeks  of  Asia 
Minor,  Phoenician  sailors,  Assyrians,  even 
men  from  India,  the  edge  of  the  world. 
The  very  names  of  them  all  would  take 
a  half  page  of  print. 

They  were  clothed  in  all  manner  of 
costume  —  in  the  skins  of  panthers  and 
lions  and  foxes,  in  leather  armor,  in  helmets  of  horses' 
skulls,  in  long  white  cotton  garments,  in  brilliant  silk. 
They  carried  all  manner  of  weapons  —  spears  tipped  with 
bronze  or  with  antelope  horn,  bows  of  cane  and  palm 
and  ash,  curved  scimitars,  knotted  clubs,  shields  of  wood 
or  rawhide  or  crane's  skin  or  bronze.  It  was  a  strange 
medley  of  nations,  like  a  circus.  Among  them  were  fierce 
barbarian  warriors  and  the  well-trained,  brave  band  of 
Persian  soldiers  that  were  the  king's  guard.  They  spread 
terror  as  they  came. 


Peksian  Foot- 
soldier 


GREECE  AND  HER  NEIGHBORS 


57 


For  once  the  Greeks  realized  that  they  must  give  over 
their  petty  jealousies  and  unite.     Yet  they  were  not  ready 
when  the  great  army  swept  down  to  the  narrow  Battle  of 
pass  of   Thermopylae  at  the  north  of   Greece.  Ther- 
Then  the  Spartans  showed  the  results  of  their  mopyiae, 
lifelong  training.     Three  hundred  of  them  were  48°  B,C' 
there  under  their  brave  king,  Leonidas.     With  about  4000 
to  help  them,  they  held  the  pass  for 
six  days  against  that  mighty  army. 

Up  to  the  time  of  fighting,  the 
Spartans  amused  themselves  in  play- 
ing games  and  singing  songs;  for 
war  was  their  sport.  They  laughed 
at  the  news  about  the  number  of  the 
enemy.  Rumor  said  that  it  made 
cities  poor  to  feed  that  great  army ; 
that  the  hosts  drank  rivers  dry; 
that  when  they  shot  their  arrows, 
the  sun  was  hidden.  "So  much  the 
better,"  laughed  the  Spartans,  "we 
shall  fight  in  the  shade."  On  the 
last  day  most  of  the  troops  returned 
home.  But  the  300  Spartans,  with  700  brave  men  to  help 
them,  even  though  they  knew  there  was  no  hope  of 
winning,  stood  their  ground  against  the  mighty  host  and 
died  fighting,  Leonidas  and  every  Spartan  but  one.  After 
that  brave  but  useless  battle  the  great  Persian  host 
flooded  on  into  middle  Greece. 

Then  Themistocles  had  the  hardest  work  of  his  life  to 
do  —  to  drag  the  Athenians  out  of  their  city 
and  aboard  ship.  For  he  realized  that  they 
could  not  hold  Athens,  that  the  Persians  would 
camp  about  it  and  starve  them  out,  that  the 
Greeks'  only  hope  was  in  their  fleet.     He  accomplished 


Noble  Persian  Guard 
Carrying  bow  and  quiver 


Battle  of 

Salamis, 
480  B.C. 


58 


THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

his  purpose  at  last,  and  the  Persians 
camped  in  the  empty  city  and  burned 
it.  But  the  Greeks  were  ready  for 
them  on  the  sea,  and  while  the  Great 
King  and  his  army  sat  on  the  shore 
to  watch,  in  the  bay  of  Salamis  they 
met  the  Persian  fleet  of  four  times 
their  number.  In  "  The  Persians," 
an  old  Greek  play  by  iEschylus,  a 
Persian  messenger  tells  the  story  of 
the  fight : 

"Then  the  fierce  trumpet's  voice 
Blazed  o'er  the  main ;  and  on  the  salt  sea 

flood 
Forthwith  the  oars,  with  measured  plash, 

descended, 
And  all  their  fines,  with  dexterous  speed 

displayed, 
Stood  with   opposing  front.     The   right 

wing  first, 
Then  the  whole   fleet   bore   down,   and 

straight  uprose 
A  mighty  shout.     'Sons  of   the  Greeks, 

advance ! 
Your   country  free,   your   children   free, 

your  wives  ! 
The  altars  of  your  native  gods  deliver, 
And  your  ancestral  tombs  —  all's  now  at 

stake ! ' 
A  like  salute  from  our  whole  line  back- 
rolled 


Soldier  of  Marathon 


A  Greek  gravestone.     The  man  wears  bronze  greaves  and  body  armor,  with 
an  undergarment  of  cloth  or  leather  to  keep  the  bronze  from  the  skin.     Gener- 
ally the  helmet  covered  the  ears,  cheeks,  and  nose,  and  the  soldier  carried  a 
shield  and  wore  a  sword 


GREECE  AND   HER  NEIGHBORS 


59 


In  Persian  speech.     No  more  delay,  but  straight 

Trireme  on  trireme,  brazen  beak  on  beak 

Dashed  furious.     A  Greek  ship  led  on  the  attack, 

And  from  the  prow  of  a  Phoenician  struck 

The  figure-head ;  and  now  the  grapple  closed 

Of  each  ship  with  his  adverse  desperate. 

At  first  the  main  line  of  the  Persian  fleet 

Stood  the  harsh  shock ;  but  soon  their  multitude 

Became  their  ruin ;  in  the  narrow  firth 

They  might  not  use  their  strength,  and,  jammed  together, 

Their  ships  with  brazen  beaks  did  bite  each  other, 

And  shattered  their  own  oars.     Meanwhile  the  Greeks 

Stroke  after  stroke  dealt  dexterous  all  around, 

Till  our  ships  showed  their  keels,  and  the  blue  sea 

Was  seen  no  more,  with  multitude  of  ships 

And  corpses  covered.     AIL  the  shores  were  strewn, 

And  the  rough  rocks,  with  dead ;  till,  in  the  end, 

Each  ship  in  the  barbaric  host  that  yet 

Had  oars,  in  most  disordered  flight  rowed  off." 

After  that,  in  the  spring,  the  Greeks  beat  the  Persians 
once  more  in  the  long  and  bloody  battle  of  Platsea. 
"  Of  an  army  of  300,000  men,"  .  .  .  Herodotus  says,  "  not 
3000  survived."  The  Persian  invasion  of  Greece  was 
ended  for  good  and  all.  The  Athenians  returned  to  their 
ruined  town  and  began  to  rebuild  it  into  that  beautiful 
City  that  was  the  wonder  of  the  world. 

The  Delian  Confederacy 

When  the  war  was  over,  many  of  the  states  of  Greece 
looked  to  Athens  as  the  queen  of  the  sea  and  the  savior 
of  the  Greeks.  A  great  league  of  friendly  states,  called  the 
Delian  Confederacy,  was  formed,  with  Athens  at  the  head. 
The  league  was  sworn  to  protect  Greece  from  Persia. 

Then  Pericles,  the  Athenian,  had  a  great  dream.  He 
saw  his  city  as  the  head  of  a   noble    Greek   empire. 


60  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

The  business  of  Athens  should  be  to  direct  this  empire, 
to  keep  peace,  to  see  justice  done,  to  build  and  train  and 
operate  a  strong  navy  that  should  be  the  protector  of  the 
empire.  Under  this  peace  every  state  might  go  on  freely 
with  its  work  of  commerce  and  manufacturing,  with  its  arts 
and  its  education.  The  governments  of  the  states  were 
to  be  democratic,  like  the  government  of  Athens.  And 
Athens,  through  her  beauty  and  her  learning,  through  the 
freedom  and  wisdom  and  large-mindedness  of  her  citizens, 
was  to  be  worthy  of  her  high  place  as  head  of  this  empire. 
The  dream  was  partly  realized.  Pericles'  wisdom 
brought  it  about.  For  thirty  years  his  great  mind  planned 
V  . .  all  Athens'  actions.     He  tied  the  empire  to- 

Pcnclcs 

gether  with  the  swift-moving  fleet.  He  col- 
lected dues  and  planned  the  spending  of  the  money.  He 
set  artists  and  builders  to  work  to  beautify  Athens  and 
Piraeus.  During  his  thirty  years  of  service  Athens 
became  more  democratic  and  more  patriotic,  better  edu- 
cated, more  beautiful,  more  prosperous.  At  the  same 
time  Athenian  learning  and  art  and  law  and  manner  of 
governing  spread  through  half  of  Greece.  Wealth,  com- 
merce, comfort,  increased  throughout  the  league.  The 
Delian  Confederacy  was  the  noblest  government  the 
world  had  thus  far  seen. 

Pericles  was  not  the  king  or  tyrant  of  this  empire. 
For  thirty  years  the  citizens  of  democratic  Athens,  recog- 
nizing his  greatness,  elected  him  first  to  one  office  and 
then  to  another,  and,  whatever  post  he  held,  they  generally 
followed  his  advice. 

Thucydides,  an  Athenian  historian  of  the  time,  says 
that  Pericles,  "  being  powerful  because  of  his  high  rank 
and  talents  and  being  manifestly  proof  against  bribery, 
controlled  the  multitude  with  an  independent  spirit  and 
was  not  led  by  them  so  much  as  he  himself  led  them. 


GREECE  AND  HER  NEIGHBORS         61 

For  he  did  not  say  anything  to  humor  them;  but  he  was  able 
on  the  strength  of  his  character  to  contradict  them  even 
at  the  risk  of  their  displeasure.     Whenever,  for  instance, 
he  perceived  them  unreasonably  and.  insolently  confident, 
by  his  language  he  would  dash  them  down  to   alarm. 
And,  on  the  other  hand,  when  they  were  unreasonably 
alarmed,  he  would  raise  them  again  to  confi- 
dence."    This  time,  the  time  of  the  greatest  b.c.429 
glory  of  Greece,  is  called  "The  Age  of  Peri- 
cles," because  he  was  the  great  directing  mind  of  the 
period. 

But  even  inside  the  Delian  Confederacy  the  old  jealousy 
was  at  work ;  and,  outside  it,  Sparta  and  her  friends  were 
eaten  with  envy.    As  soon  as  the  danger  from 
Persia  was  over,  the  old  quarrels  began  again.   T^ousy 
For  twenty-seven  years  there  was  almost  con- 
tinuous warfare  between  Sparta  and  her  allies  on  one  side 
and  Athens  and  hers  on  the  other.     The  whole  Greek 
world  from  the  iEgean  islands  to   Magna  Grsecia  was 
dragged  into  it.     There  was  terrible  slaughter  of  men  and 
ruin  of  cities.     A*1  Athenian  army  of  40,000  was  almost 
entirely  wiped  out  in  Sicily.     Sparta  captured  160  of 
Athens'  ships  and  sentenced  3000  prisoners  to  death. 

Beaten  on  land  and  sea,  cooped  up  and  starving  at 
home,  the  Athenians  were  forced  to  tear  down  the  walls 
of  Piraeus  and  the  long  walls  that  stretched  from 
port  to  city,  to  be  content  with  only  twelve  b°£~371 
ships  of  war,  and  to  obey  the  commands  of 
Sparta.     Then  for  thirty-three  years  Sparta  ruled  Greece 
with  stubborn  selfishness  and  cruelty.     First  one  city 
and  then  another  revolted  and  had  to  endure  bitter 
punishment,  until  Thebes  rose  up  and  took  vengeance 
upon  the  punisher,  humbled  Sparta,  and  devastated  her 
land. 


62  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

Macedon  Conquers  the  World 

Meanwhile,  north  of  Greece,  Macedon  had  been  grow- 
ing strong.     Greek  colonies  on  the  coast  and  occasional 

Greek    immigrants    who    traveled   inland   had 
Macedon  in  -,   ^       -i        i  •  i 

gradually  spread  Greek  education  there.  The 
kings  of  one  tribe,  especially,  became  thoroughly  Hel- 
lenized.  They  traveled  in  Greece,  spoke  Greek,  enter- 
tained Greek  poets  and  artists  and  teachers  at  their 
court,  and  even  took  part  in  the  Olympic  games. 

Philip,  one  of  these  Idngs,  conquered  the  other  six  tribes 
of  Macedon,  held  them  firmly  in  his  hand,  made  himself 
their  beloved  hero,  and  built  up  a  marvelous  army. 
With  this  well-trained  army  he  conquered  Greece  when 
all  her  small  states  were  quarreling  among  themselves. 
But  he  interfered  little  with  their  government,  and  in- 
vited rather  than  commanded  them  to  help  him  in  his 
great  plan  of  humbling  Persia.  For  though  the  Greeks 
had  beaten  her  on  their  own  ground  and  had  driven 
her  out  of  their  country,  yet  she  was  still  the  proud  mis- 
tress of  Asia  and  often  interfered  in  Greek  affairs. 

Philip  was  killed  before  he  could  carry  out  his  plan, 
and  his   son  Alexander   inherited   the  kingship   of   this 

young  Macedon,  inherited  Philip's  strong  and 
a  ?"w      loyal  army  and  his  ambition  to  conquer  Asia. 

In  334  b.c,  when  he  was  only  twenty-two  years 
old,  with  a  well-knit  little  army  of  35,000  men,  Alexander 
set  out  to  master  an  empire  fifty  times  as  large  as  his  own 
country  —  an  empire  whose  king  had  more  gold  in  one 
treasure  house  than  was  in  all  Macedon  together  and 
servants  in  one  palace  more  numerous  than  Alexander's 
whole  army. 

The  history  of  the  next  eleven  years  reads  like  a  tale 
from  the  "  Arabian  Nighte."     Alexander  fought  against 


GREECE  AND  HER  NEIGHBORS  63 

twenty  times  his  number  and  never  once  lost.  There 
were  battles  where  the  enemy  rode  on  elephants  and 
drove  in  chariots  with  scythes  on  the  wheels  to  cut  men 
down.  Macedonian  troops  forded  rivers  and  climbed 
slippery  banks  in  the  very  face  of  the  foe  and  yet  won. 
About  a  great  walled  town  they  built  a  hill  of  earth  two 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  high,  that  they  might  fight  from  it. 

Alexander  conquered  cities  so  old  that  their  age  seemed 
like  a  fable  and  so  rich  that  Greece  appeared  a  beggar 
before  them.  He  captured  treasures  of  a  hundred  million 
dollars  and  the  Great  King's  tent  with  its  basins  and 
bath  of  gold  and  its  scented  water  and  its  perfumed  air. 
He  gave  banquets  where  nine  thousand  people  sat  down 
to  table,  and  every  one  received  a  gold  drinking  cup  as  a 
gift.  He  sent  a  party  to  explore  the  great  river  Indus, 
which  probably  no  Greek  had  ever  seen  before. 

The  army  climbed  over  a  snowy  mountain  pass  more 
than  13,000  feet  high.  For  sixty  days  they  traveled 
through  a  desert  that  was  the  hottest  place  on  earth, 
where  three-fourths  of  the  division  died  of  thirst  and 
hunger  and  fatigue.  At  one  time  a  wound  brought  the 
young  conqueror  near  to  death  off  at  the  world's  end. 

There  were  passionate  quarrels  between  the  king  and 
his  army  that  ended  in  tears  and  embraces.  And  always 
the  battles  brought  victory,  until  Alexander  was  master 
of  the  largest  empire  that  had  ever  existed,  and  the  whole 
civilized  world  was  ringing  with  his  fame. 

Aside  from  the  marvelous  things  he  had  done,  Alex- 
ander himself  was  a  hero  to  stir  men's  hearts.     No  one 
could  have  been  braver.     He  always  rode  in  the 
very  front  of  the  troops  in  brilliant  armor  and  JT.61 
with  white  feathers  in  his  helmet,  so  that  no  eye 
could  miss  him.     He  was  afraid  to  go  nowhere.     Once 
when  he  was  besieging  a  city  and  was  scaling  the  wall, 


64 


THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 


the  ladder  broke  below  him.  Instead  of  leaping  back 
among  his  army,  he  leaped  forward  into  the  city  with 
only  three  men  to  help  him. 

Being  brave  and  straightforward  himself,  he  liked 
these  qualities  in  other  men.  Plutarch  tells  of  his  send- 
ing a  gift  to  a  far  city  in  Italy  because  of  a  brave  deed 
of  one  of  her  citizens  done  years  before.  And  after 
having  conquered  a  certain  king  who  had  made  a 
brave   fight,    " Alexander    asked    him,"    Plutarch    says, 


Compare  with  the  map  of  the  Persian  empire,  page  54 


"how  he  desired  to  be  treated.  He  answered,  'Like 
a  king.'  'And  have  you  nothing  else  to  request?'  re- 
plied Alexander.  'No,'  said  he;  'everything  is  com- 
prehended in  the  word  king.'  Alexander  [being  pleased 
with  the  answer]  not  only  restored  him  his  own  do- 
minions immediately,  which  he  was  to  govern  as  his 
lieutenant,  but  added  very  extensive  territories  to 
them." 

Plutarch  reports  that  one  of  the  conquered  Persians 
once  said,  "Alexander  is  as  mild  in  the  use  of  his  vic- 
tories as  he  is  terrible  in  battle." x  And  he  goes  on  to  tell 


GREECE  AND  HER  NEIGHBORS        65 

how  the  Persian  queen  and  her  daughters  were  treated 
when  they  were  captured  after  a  certain  battle.  Alex- 
ander sent  word  to  them  "that  they  had  nothing  to  fear 
from  Alexander,  for  his  dispute  with  Darius  [the  Persian 
king]  was  only  for  empire  and  that  they  should  find 
themselves  provided  for  in  the  same  manner  as  when 
Darius  was  in  his  greatest  prosperity.  ...  They  [were, 
indeed,  given]  as  many  domestics  and  were  served  in 
all  respects  in  as  honorable  a  manner  as  before.  .  .  . 
Though  they  were  now  captives  he  considered  that  they 
were  ladies,  not  only  of  high  rank,  but  of  great  modesty 
and  virtue.  ...  As  if  they  had  been  in  a  holy  temple, 
rather  than  in  an  enemy's  camp,  they  lived  unseen  and 
unapproached  in  the  most  sacred  privacy." 

Having  captured  so  many  cities  and  cities  so  rich,  he 
had  a  great  mass  of  spoil ;  but  he  seemed  to  have  no  love 
for  wealth  except  to  use  it.  He  was  continually  making 
gifts  to  any  who  he  thought  deserved  them.  At  one 
time  he  gave  a  great  banquet  for  the  Macedonians  who 
had  married  Persian  wives  and  "he  paid  off  all  their 
debts,"  says  Plutarch.  When  his  soldiers  became 
wounded  or  ill  or  worn-out  in  his  service,  he  sent  them 
home  with  rich  presents.  Indeed,  he  was  so  lavish  with 
gifts  that  his  mother  reproved  him,  saying  that  he  would 
make  kings  of  all  his  friends. 

In  spite  of  the  magnificence  of  the  Persian  life  that  he 
was  taking  part  in,  he  seems  himself  to  have  preferred 
simplicity.  Plutarch  says:  "He  found  that  his  great 
officers  set  no  bounds  to  their  luxury,  that  they  were 
most  extravagantly  delicate  in  their  diet  and  profuse  in 
other  respects ;  insomuch  that  one  had  silver  nails  in  his 
shoes,  another  had  many  camel-loads  of  earth  brought 
from  Egypt  to  rub  himself  with  when  he  went  to  the 
wrestling  ring;  .  .  .    more  ntade  use  of  rich  perfumes 


[66 


GREECE  AND  HER  NEIGHBORS        67 

than  oil  after  bathing  and  had  their  grooms  of  the  bath 
as  well  as  chamberlains  who  excelled  in  bed-making. 

"This  degeneracy  he  reproved  with  all  the  temper  of  a 
philosopher.  He  told  them,  it  was  very  strange  to  him 
that,  after  having  undergone  so  many  glorious  conflicts, 
they  did  not  remember  that  those  who  come  from  labor 
and  exercise  always  sleep  more  sweetly  than  the  inac- 
tive and  effeminate;  and  that  in  comparing  the  Persian 
manners  with  the  Macedonian,  they  did  not  perceive 
that  nothing  was  more  servile  than  the  love  of  pleasure 
or  more  princely  than  a  life  of  toil.  'How  will  that  man/ 
continued  he,  'take  care  of  his  own  horse,  or  furbish  his 
lance  and  helmet,  whose  hands  are  too  delicate  to  wait 
on  his  own  person  ?  Know  you  not  that  the  end  of  con 
quest  is,  not  to  do  what  the  conquered  have  done,  but 
something  greatly  superior?'" 

Yet  with  all  his  virtues  Alexander  had  faults.  He  was 
boastful  and  liked  to  hear  himself  praised,  becoming 
angry  at  those  who  did  not  do  homage  to  him.  He 
occasionally  lost  control  of  his  temper  and  did  savage 
things,  once  even  killing  a  friend  in  a  fit  of  anger.  After- 
wards he  repented  most  bitterly  and  in  tears  and  tried 
to  take  his  own  life;  for  he  had  a  hot  disposition  that 
rushed  to  extremes.  Moreover,  he  was  very  supersti- 
tious and  always  had  soothsayers  and  prophets  about 
him  to  interpret  dreams  and  omens,  as  did  many  men  of 
his  time. 

But  you  must  not  think  that  Alexander  was  an  ignorant 
soldier.  He  had  been  educated  by  the  Greek  Aristotle, 
one  of  the  greatest  philosophers  of  the  world,  and  he  had 
been  an  apt  pupil.  Even  during  his  campaigns  he  had 
books  sent  to  him  and  read  them  eagerly.  He  welcomed 
philosophers  and  poets  and  knew  what  was  going  on  in 
the   learned   world.     Plutarch   says,    "He   loved   polite 


68  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

learning,  and  his  natural  thirst  for  knowledge  made  him 
a  man  of  extensive  reading."  He  had  great  love  and  ad- 
miration for  the  "  Iliad,"  the  old  Greek  poem  that  tells 
the  story  of  the  Trojan  war,  and  "used  to  lay  it  under  his 
pillow  with  his  sword."  Moreover,  he  had  studied  medi- 
cine and  sometimes  prescribed  for  his  friends.  Indeed, 
he  had  a  strong  interest  in  all  kinds  of  knowledge. 

But  what  did  it  all  amount  to,  this  march  of  thousands 
of  miles,  these  eleven  years  of  clever  fighting,  this  con- 
quest of  the  world?  He  himself  had  a  purpose 
Effects  of  in  ^e  war.  He  wanted  to  unite  Europe  and 
quests  Asia.  Other  Greeks  had  a  great  scorn  of  every- 
thing not  Greek.  Now,  no  one  could  love 
Greek  manners  and  ways  of  thinking  better  than  Alex- 
ander did.  That  was  one  reason,  doubtless,  for  his  want- 
ing to  unite  Greece  to  the  rest  of  the  world,  that  he  might 
spread  Greek  education. 

Indeed,  he  seemed  to  carry  seeds  of  Greek  culture  with 
him  and  to  plant  them  wherever  possible.  Everywhere 
he  built  altars  to  Greek  gods  and  sacrificed  to  them.  He 
held  Greek  games  and  gave  Greek  plays  among  the 
Persians.  He  had  30,000  Persian  boys  educated  by  Greek 
masters.  All  through  the  East  he  built  seventy  cities  on 
the  Greek  plan  and  left  Greek  and  Macedonian  settlers 
in  them. 

Besides  admiring  the  Greeks,  he  was  interested  in  all 
people,  felt  a  respect  for  different  civilizations,  and  was 
eager  to  learn  from  them  all.  He  adopted  the  Persian 
dress,  married  two  Persian  princesses,  and  encouraged 
his  soldiers  to  take  Persian  wives.  He  sometimes  made 
a  conquered  Persian  the  governor  of  a  province. 

Thus  in  many  ways  he  tried  to  unify  his  conquered 
world,  and  he  largely  succeeded.  The  fact  that  so  many 
countries  were  under  one  head  and  were  at  peace,  the 


GREECE  AND  HER  NEIGHBORS  69 

fact  that  a  Greek  army  had  penetrated  into  Asia  and 
had  wound  its  way  from  city  to  city  there,  was  like  open- 
ing closed  doors.  Travel  and  trade  increased;  and 
where  travelers  and  traders  go,  settlers  follow,  and  so  do 
manners  and  customs. 

Although  Alexander  died  in  Persia  before  he  had 
finished  his  work,  and  although  after  him  there  was  no 
man  strong  enough  to  hold  this  great  empire  together, 
yet  the  doors  stayed  open,  and  Greek  settlers  and  ideas 
and  culture  went  all  over  the  world.  Countries  grew  up 
in  Asia  as  Greek  as  Athens  had  ever  been,  having  cities 
like  her,  filled  with  temples  and  theaters  and  statues, 
and  famous  for  sculptors  and  painters  and  writers. 

In  Egypt,  far  from  Greece  herself,  was  a  city  that  was 
the  very  center  of  Greek  learning  and  Greek  influence. 
This  was  Alexandria,  one  of  the  towns  which  the  great 
conqueror  had  founded.  There  were  two  great 
libraries  here  that  at  one  time  contained  700,000 
books,  all  written  by  hand  on  rolls  of  papyrus.  There 
was  a  famous  museum  "  where  scholars  lived  and 
worked  together/'  There  was  a  group  of  buildings  —  a 
"  temple  of  the  Muses  [the  goddesses  of  learning  and  the 
arts],  library,  porticoes,  dwellings,  and  ...  a  hall  for  the 
-meals,  which  were  taken  together.  Its  inmates  were  a 
community  of  scholars  and  poets,  on  whom  the  king  be- 
stowed the  honor  and  the  privilege  of  being  allowed  to 
work  at  his  expense,  and  with  all  imaginable  assistance 
ready  to  hand." 

Many  valuable  things  they  found  out  through  their 
study.  The  greatest  geographers  of  ancient  times  worked 
there.  They  knew  that  the  earth  is  a  sphere,  and  they 
invented  ways  of  measuring  and  mapping  it.  Eratosthe- 
nes figured  out  its  circumference  as  28,000  miles  —  not  a 
very  great  mistake  for  the  first  worker.     An  astronomical 


70  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

observatory  was  there ;  men  studied  the  stars  and  tried 
to  find  the  size  of  the  sun  and  the  moon,  and  their  dis- 
tances from  the  earth.  Euclid,  the  greatest  geometrician 
of  ancient  times,  did  his  work  there  and  wrote  a  geometry 
that  is  still  used  in  some  of  our  schools. 

What  was  found  out  in  Alexandria  was  soon  known  all 
through  the  Mediterranean  countries.1  This  was  the 
effect  of  Alexander's  conquests.  He  had  Hellenized  the 
ancient  world.  It  was  left  for  another  nation  to  enlarge 
that  world,  to  spread  that  culture  through  our  Spain, 
France,  Germany,  England,  and  the  rest  of  Europe. 

Greek  Influence  on  Civilization 

The  debt  that  we  owe  to  the  Greeks  we  can  hardly 
state  in  words.  We  still  read  their  poetry  with  joy,  and 
many  an  English  poet  has  some  ancient  Greek  singer  to 
thank  for  inspiration.  Never  a  year  passes,  I  suppose, 
that  some  one  in  America  does  not  stage  one  of  the  old 
Greek  plays.  Some  of  the  most  precious  things  in  the 
museums  of  Europe  are  the  Greek  statues  that  they 
have  been  able  to  get.  People  who  love  beautiful  things 
travel  for  thousands  of  miles  to  see  and  enjoy  them.  Art 
students  sketch  them  and  model  them  in  clay.  Sculptors 
study  them  to  learn  the  secrets  of  those  earlier  workers 
in  marble  and  bronze. 

1  There  was  a  fault  in  the  way  the  Greek  scientist  worked.  If  he  saw  some- 
thing that  interested  him —  a  falling  star  or  a  flash  of  lightning  —  he  said,  "I 
must  make  a  theory  about  that."  So,  folding  his  hands  and  shutting  his  eyes, 
he  thought  long  and  earnestly  and  invented  an  explanation  that  seemed  to  him 
reasonable.  A  modern  scientist,  on  the  other  hand,  when  he  sees  a  thing  he 
does  not  understand  says,  "  I  must  investigate  that."  Then  he  begins  to  visit 
strange  places,  to  collect  many  specimens,  to  tear  things  to  pieces  and  to 
put  them  together,  to  use  acids  and  machines  and  microscope  and  scales. 
Slowly  he  pieces  his  theory  together  as  his  investigations  tell  him  this  or  that, 
and  he  is  always  ready  to  give  it  up  if  some  new  experiment  proves  it  false. 
Our  science  is  better  than  the  Greek  science,  then,  because  people  have  been 
living  and  learning  for  2000  years  and  at  last  have  come  to  realize  the  great 
value  of  experiment. 


GREECE  AND  HER  NEIGHBORS        71 

The  same  thing  happens  with  Greek  buildings.  Archi- 
tects measure  their  length  and  their  width  and  their 
height,  the  proportion  of  their  columns,  the  pitch  of  their 
roof.  There  lies  on  the  Acropolis  of  Athens  the  broken 
capital  of  a  column  with  a  beautiful  spiral  carved  upon  it. 
In  the  center  of  the  spiral  is  a  little  hole  that  has  been 
worn  by  the  dividers  of  visiting  architects  who  have 
measured  it  to  learn  how  it  was  made  that  it  should  be  so 
beautiful.     These  men  have  gone  home  to  draw,  to  ex- 


Copyright  by  J.  F.  Olsson  and  Company 

The  Harvard  University  Stadium 

periment,  to  copy  the  curves,  the  proportions,  and  even 
the 'designs  that  they  have  found  in  Greek  temples.  If 
you  look  at  the  buildings  about  you,  you  may  see  here  in 
America  Greek  columns  or  Greek  pediments  or  Greek 
ornaments. 

On  many  of  our  athletic  fields  to-day  you  will  see 
stadiums  copied  after  the  old  Greek  ones,  and  in  them 
you  will  see  young  men  playing  games  much  as  men 
played  in  ancient  Greece.  When  we  study  grammar,  we 
are  studying  ideas  originated  by  the  learned  men  of  Alex- 
andria. In  our  science  classes,  where  we  investigate  the 
actions  of  screws  and  lgvers  and  the  weights  of  bodies 


72  THE  ANCIENT"  WORLD 

and  even  electricity,  we  are  studying  subjects  which  the 

Greeks  started  for  us.     Half  the  books  we  read  are  full  of 

„  Greek  stories  or  fancies 

Greek       Latin       Russian    German    English 

.  .  9r  A  or   ideas.      Great    men, 

r>  jj  E  *R  B  wno  think  about  man's 

P  q  B  (£  c  ^e  and  how  he  ought  to 

^  D  $  D  act,  get  inspiration  from 

E  E  g  ©  E  one   or  another   of   the 

z  F  }k  J  F  Greek  philosophers. 

H  G  3  &  G  And  I  should  think  that 

0  H  j  £  H  every  time  a  mathema- 

1  *  k  2  tician  measures  triangles 
K  T  "^  ©  K  anc^  c^rc^es  ano^  cones, 
^  M  pt  2  L  every  time  an  astrono- 
M  N  O  Wl  M  mer  studies  the  move- 
N  o  II  Sft  N  ments  of  the  earth,  every 
H  P  p  £>  0  time  a  sculptor  lifts  his 
0  Q  T  $  P  chisel  and  mallet,  every 
II  R  y  D  Q  time  an  architect  plans 
P  S  <|>  m  R  a    building    or    a    poet 

2  T  n  ?  t  makes  a  play,  he  must 
T  H  «  U  remember  the  Greeks, 
^  z  III  ™  y  the  pioneers  of  learning. 

t?        SB       ■  W  One  other  example  Out 

*  H         j         X      of  the  many  will  show 

B         2)         Y      how  the  Greeks  taught 

^         3         z      us,  how  we  have  profited 

tq  by     the    lesson,     have 

H  changed   the    matter    a 

©  little,  and  have  half  for- 

gotten  that  we  did  not 

always  know  it.     Look 

at  the  Greek  alphabet  and  then  at  ours.     "How  funny  it 

is,"  you  will  say,  "not  at  all  like  the  English ! "     Yet  ours 


GREECE  AND  HER  NEIGHBORS         73 

is  an  imperfect  copy  of  the  Greek  through  the  Roman. 
Some  letters  we  have  dropped,  because  the  sounds  that 
they  represent  do  not  occur  in  our  language,  and  other 
letters  we  have  simplified  in  form  during  our  hundreds  of 
years  of  use.  It  was  the  Romans  who  found  the  tribes  of 
Europe  without  a  written  language  and  taught  them  their 
own  letters.  But  theirs  they  had  learned  from  the  Greeks 
in  that  early  time  when  the  Greeks  had  gone  colonizing 
into  the  West,  as  the  Greeks  had  earlier  learned  theirs  from 
the  Phoenicians. 

So  all  the  alphabets  of  Europe  are  children  of  one 
family.  We  must  thank  the  Romans  and  their  teachers, 
the  Greeks,  and  the  Phoenicians  before  them  for  that  mar- 
velous power  of  looking  on  a  page  of  little  scratches 
and  so  hearing  the  words  that  men  spoke  hundreds 
of  years  ago  and  seeing  the  things  that  they  did,  and 
for  that  power  of  making  records  of  the  deeds  and  dis- 
coveries and  thoughts  of  our  own  time  that  future  gener- 
ations may  profit  by  our  work. 


1. "  Pretend  that  you  are  Athenians  and  hold  a  meeting  to  discuss 
whether  you  will  send  earth  and  water  to  the  Persian  king.  2.  Make 
as  long  a  list  as  you  can  of  famous  Greek  men,  statues,  cities.  3.  Look 
up  the  following  words  in  a  large  dictionary  and  see  what  language  they 
come  from  and  what  they  meant  in  that  language :  alphabet,  astron- 
omy, biography,  Bible,  chronology,  geology,  geometry,  geography, 
history,  poet,  science,  zoology.  4.  You  ean  get  for  a  penny  apiece 
good  pictures  of  Greek  statues  and  temples  and  landscape  from  the 
Thompson  Art  Publication  Company,  Syracuse,  N.Y.  Make  a  collec- 
tion of  pictures  and  mount  them  in  a  book.  5.  Use  the  Greek  alphabet 
to  write  a  secret  letter.  Try  to  invent  an  alphabet  unlike  any  that 
you  ever  saw. 


CHAPTER  IV 

ROME   GROWS   STRONG 

Rome  Conquers  Italy 

In  spite  of  their  many  colonies,  the  Greeks  had  civilized 
only  the  seacoast  here  and  there.  They  had  no  love  for 
the  inland  wilderness,  with  its  dangers  from  wild  beasts 
and  from  ambushes  of  hostile  barbarians.  The  islands  and 
shores  of  the  Mediterranean  made  up  their  whole  world. 

Herodotus  had  traveled  much,  was  a  careful  observer, 
and  had  a  very  clear  idea  about  geography ;  yet  he  says, 
"  Whether  Europe  is  surrounded  by  water  either  towards 
the  east  or  towards  the  north,  has  not  been  fully  dis- 
covered by  any  man ;  but  in  length  it  is  known  to  extend 
beyond  both  the  other  continents."  By  "both  the  other 
continents"  he  means  Asia  and  Africa, 

..Now  any  school  boy  can  look  into  his  atlas  and  see 

that  wise  old  Herodotus,  the  great  traveler,  was  wrong; 

that  Europe  is  not  so  large  as  either  Asia  or 

Greek         Africa.     But  the  men  of  that  time  knew  only 

Ideas  of  .  .  ~        .  . 

the  World    the  northern  part  of  Africa  and  the  western  part 

of  Asia  and  could  only  guess  about  the  rest. 
Herodotus  even  says,  "  Asia  is  inhabited  as  far  as  India ; 
but  beyond  this  it  is  all  desert  towards  the  east,  nor  is 
any  one  able  to  describe  what  it  is."  We  can  see,  there- 
fore, that  China,  one  of  the  richest,  most  ancient,  and 
most  civilized  countries  of  the  earth,  was  unknown  to  the 
Greeks  and  their  neighbors. 
Even  the  northern  part  of  his  own  Europe  Herodotus 

74 


ROME  GROWS  STRONG 


75 


did  not  know.  After  having  told  about  a  race  of  people 
who  lived  somewhere  northeast  of  the  Black  Sea  and  who 
"are  said  to  be  bald  from  their  birth,"  he  says,  "But 
beyond  the  bald  men  no  one  can  speak  with  certainty; 


ITALY 


Italy  in  Relief 


for  lofty  and  impassable  mountains  form  their  boundary, 
and  no  one  has  ever  crossed  them."  All  Siberia  and 
Russia,  you  see,  were  quite  unknown  to  travelers  of 
Herodotus'  time. 

This,  then,  was  the  Greek  world:    the  shores  of  the 
Mediterranean  and  the  wild,  half-guessed  outer  border 


76 


THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 


full  of  things  partly  known  and  partly  fancied.     There 
was  much  left  for  explorers  and  civilizers  to  do. 

The  next  people  to  take  up  the  work  of  civilizers  were 
the  Romans,  that  small  tribe  whom  the  Greek  traders, 
700  years  before  Christ,  had  found  living  as 
Favorable  smipie  farmers  on  the  western  plains  of  central 
of° Rome  Italy.1  In  these  early  days  the  Romans  were 
but  one  part  of  the  Latin  tribe,  and  Latins 
were  but  one  of  many  tribes  in  Italy.  Rome  had  about 
her  only  a  small  circle  of  land  of  perhaps  a  hundred 
square  miles.  But  the  city  was  fortunately  located.  It 
was  on  the  Tiber  River,  up  which  the  small  seagoing  ships 
of  the  time  could  row.  Yet  it  was  twelve  miles  from  the 
seashore  and  therefore  safe  from  the  pirates,  who  were 
the  pests    of    the   coast    towns.     At   this  spot  on  the 

Tiber,  moreover,  was  the 
only  fordable  place  where 
the  Etruscan  traders  from 
the  North  could  cross  into 
Roman  territory  to  sell 
their  goods. 

Rome  was  built  on  hills 
which  overlooked  the  level 
plains  around  her.  She 
could  see  her  enemies  ap- 
proaching and  could  have 
time  to  prepare  against  them.  Her  men,  besides, 
were  hearty  and  brave  and  loved  their  city  with  in- 
tense patriotism.  They  saw  her  surrounded  by  enemies. 
In  the  fertile  plains  north  of  her  was  Etruria,  a  nation 
of  skillful  artists  and  builders  and  sailors,  eager  to  grow 
into  a  greater  state  with  wider  lands.  To  the  south  was 
the  rich   country  of  "  Great  Greece,"  with  its  beautiful 

1  See  also  page  12. 


Rome  and  Her  Hills 


ROME   GROWS  STRONG  77 

cities  and  busy  workshops  and  its  boats  coming  and  going. 
In  the  hills  to  the  east  were  barbarous,  warlike  tribes  who 
swooped  down  upon  Rome  like  robber  bands.  All  about 
her  were  other  Latin  cities,  all  hoping  to  grow  great  at 
the  expense  of  their  neighbors.  In  the  early  days  hardly 
a  year  passed  that  the  Romans  did  not  have  to  fight  for 
their  lives.  If  Rome  was  to  live,  she  needed  to  make 
herself  stronger  than  her  neighbors  and  to  subdue  them. 

So  the  Romans  raised  their  arms  against  first  one 
Latin  city  and  then  another,  and  compelled  them  all 
to  bow  to  Rome.     Then  trouble  began  with 
Etruria,    the   foreign   neighbor   to   the   north.  *®°J" 
There  were  years  of  warfare,  until  at  last  she  0f  Italy 
was  conquered.     Rome  next  turned  her  hand 
against  the  other  tribes  of  Italy.     Sometimes  she  was 
beaten  in  bloody  battles,  but  in  general  she  won  and  kept 
adding  new  lands  to  her  territory. 

As  she  worked  southward  in  her  conquests,  Rome  met 
the  rich  cities  of  Magna  Grsecia.     They  felt  that  they 
could  not  allow  this  new  barbarian  power,  as 
they  called  it,  to  grow  too  great.     They  took  *  ?T275 
the  side  of  Rome's  enemies,  and  even  invited  a 
warrior  prince  of  Greece  over  into  Italy  to  help  them. 
Rome  patiently  fought  with  him  and  lost,  and  filled  up 
her  ranks  with  new  men  and  fought  again,  waiting  until 
his  army  should  be  worn  out  in  this  hostile  land.     After 
five  years  it  was  done ;  and  the  prince  fled  back  to  Greece. 
Soon  all  of  southern  Italy  was  in  the  hands  of  Rome,  ami 
by  266  b.c.  she  was  mistress  of  all  the  land  from  the  Arno 
River  to  the  southern  tip  of  the  country  —  a  great  terri- 
tory 500  miles  long. 

Roman  Life 

What  sort  of   people  were  these  victorious  Romans, 
these  masters  of  Italy?     Suppose  that  by  some  magic 


78 


THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 


you  could  be  transported  back  to  the  year  200  B.C.,  carried 
for  thousands  of  miles  across  the  ocean,  and  set  down 

in  ancient  Athens  and  then  in  ancient  Rome. 

The  two  cities  would  seem  to  you  much  alike. 
In  both  you  would  see  hills  and  a  stone  wall  stretching 
about  them.  In  both,  low,  flat-roofed  houses  would  be 
packed  close  along  crooked  streets,  with  no  room  for 


A  Court  in  a  Roman  House 


lawns  or  parks.  In  Rome  and  Athens  alike  you  would 
see  a  market-place  lying  among  hills,  with  public  build- 
ings and  statues  of  heroes  and  gods  standing  around  it. 
In  each  market-place  you  would  find  men  gathered  for 
some  public  meeting.  Both  peoples  would  be  in  strange 
garments  much  alike  —  the  common  men  in  short  chitons 
leaving  neck,  arms,  and  legs  bare;  the  gentlemen  with 
trailing,  shawl-like  cloaks  wrapped  around  their  bodies. 
Both  peoples  would  be  speaking  a  language  strange  to  you. 


ROME  GROWS   STRONG  79 

You  would  find  the  heart  and  the  head  of  the  city  of 
Rome  to  be  this  market-place,  or  "  Forum."  You  could 
walk  the  length  of  it  in  ten  minutes,  yet  it  was  one  of 
the  most  famous  and  most  important  places  in  the 
world.  Every  spot  of  ground  here  was  made  holy  by  old 
events  and  story.  On  the  hills  that  surrounded  it  had 
been  the  little  villages  that  had  later  grown  into  great 
Rome.  For  more  generations  than  men  know,  the  ances- 
tors of  the  Romans  had  been  busy  in  this  little  marshy 
valley  lying  below  the  hills.  Women  had  drawn  water 
at  the  springs  there.  Men  had  met  in  the  open  space 
to  consult  upon  laws  or  to  prepare  for  war.  There  had 
been  the  market  for  buying  and  selling.  Here  the  king 
had  had  his  house.  Romulus,  the  founder  of  Rome  and 
the  first  of  her  kings,  lay  buried  here,  men  said.  Temple 
after  temple  had  been  built,  and  smoke  and  song  con- 
tinually rose  from  them  to  the  gods. 

As  you  walked  the  Forum,  layer  upon  layer  of  older 
pavements  and  of  older  buildings  would  lie  buried  under 
your  feet,  and  every  spot  would  seem  too  old 
and  too  sacred  to  be  trodden  upon.  Yet  men 
would  be  hurrying  about  here  on  all  sorts  of  business. 
A  young  nobleman  with  a  crowd  of  friends  and  slaves 
surrounding  him  would  be  walking  before  the  goldsmith 
shops  that  bordered  the  road  on  the  southern  side.  A 
sick  man  in  a  curtained  litter  would  be  carried  past  you 
to  drink  the  waters  of  the  fountain  of  Juturna  and  to  lie 
in  a  little  room,  waiting  for  the  god  of  healing  to  visit 
him. 

You  might,  perhaps,  stand  with  a  great  crowd  before 
the  rdstrum,  or  speaker's  platform,  and  hear  an  orator 
speak  to  the  people  concerning  a  new  law.  You  would 
see  a  man  carrying  some  gift  enter  a  temple,  hoping  to 
win  the  gods'  help  in  a  voyage  he  was  about  to  make, 


80  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 


Romans  Going  to  Make  Sacrifice 

This  and  the  next  picture  are  of  reliefs  carved  on  a  Roman  altar. 
All  of  the  men  but  one  are  wearing  the  shawl-like  toga  over  the  tunic 

Along  the  north  side  of  the  Forum  you  would  find  a 
street  lined  with  butchers'  booths  and  fish  stalls,  where 
gentlemen  with  hosts  of  friends  and  slaves  would  be  buy- 
ing meat  for  the  evening's  banquet.  Business  and  re- 
ligion and  politics  went  hand  in  hand  in  the  Roman 
Forum. 

Just  as  every  family  had  a  house  and  a  hearth  with  a 
fire  ever  burning  on  it,  so  the  great  family  of  Rome  had 
a  house  and  a  hearth  and  a  hearth  fire.  The  little 
round  temple  of  Vesta,  the  home  goddess,  stood  in  the 
Forum.  In  it  on  an  altar  burned  the  sacred  fire  of  the 
city,  started  afresh  by  the  high  priest  every  New  Year's 
Day,  and  burning  to  the  year's  end.  Six  noble 
maidens  of  Rome  were  chosen  to  guard  it. 
They  were  called  Vestal  Virgins,  and  they  gave  up  their 
lives  to  being  the  daughters  of  Rome,  guardians  of  her  fire, 
mistresses  of  her  house,  makers  of  her  holy  bread,  per- 
formers of  her  sacrifices,  keepers  of  her  most  precious 
relics. 

Close  to  the  temple  of  Vesta  was  the  house  where  lived 


ROME  GROWS   STRONG 


8r 


Romans  Going  to  Make  Sacrifice 


the  high  priest,  the  head  of  the  Roman  religion.  Here 
were  the  sacred  dishes  and  tools  with  which  the  priests 
offered  wine  and  cakes  to  the  gods  or  killed  animals  in 
their  honor.  Here  were  the  holy  books  which  described 
what  men  should  do  and  say  at  the  sacred  festivals. 
Here  were  kept,  too,  the  lists  of  officers  elected  year  after 
year  and  the  stone  tablets  of  the  calendar  which  set  the 
holy  days.  Above  an  altar  in  this  house,  also  hung  two 
spears  of  Mars,  the  god  of  war  and  the  favorite  god  of 
Rome.  Whenever  these  two  spears  clattered  together, 
it  was  an  ill  omen  for  Rome,  and  sacrifice  had  to  be  made 
to  the  displeased  god. 

The  gods  were  stern  and  severe  and  difficult  to  please. 
They  demanded  from  men  frequent  sacrifice  and  prayer 
and  strict  obedience.  They  would  not  lend 
their  aid  unless  men  observed  all  the  ceremonies 
that  did  them  honor.  So  a  Roman's  life  was  full  of 
religious  rites  —  praying,  pouring  libations  of  wine,  burn- 
ing holy  cakes,  and  making  gifts  to  the  gods.  Such  things 
he  did  when  he  rose  in  the  morning,  before  he  ate  a  meal, 


82  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

when  he  returned  home  from  a  journey,  when  he  was 
beginning  a  piece  of  business,  when  the  lands  were 
plowed  and  the  seed  sown  and  the  harvest  reaped, 
when  he  was  ill,  when  he  recovered,  when  a  child  was 
born,  when  a  member  of  his  family  died. 

In  the  same  way  Rome,  the  state,  had  to  deal  with 
the  gods.  Her  newly  elected  officers  sacrificed  to  them. 
The  meetings  of  the  people  were  opened  with  sacrifice. 
Before  war  was  declared,  sacrifice  was  made,  and  again 
when  victory  was  gained.  If  ill  fortune  happened  to 
Rome,  it  was  because  the  gods  were  in  some  way  dis- 
pleased, and  gifts  were  made  to  them  to  soothe  their 
anger.  The  first  fruits  of  the  harvest  were  given  to  the 
Vestals,  who  sacrificed  them  as  a  thank-offering  from  the 
whole  state.  For  every  god  annual  festivals  were  held ; 
and  every  five  years  the  whole  people  with  priests  and 
officers,  with  song  and  sprinkled  water  and  great  pomp, 
walked  in  procession  about  the  city  and  purified  it,  in 
order  that  it  might  be  pleasing  to  the  gods. 

After  sacrifice  had  been  offered,  it  was  always  neces- 
sary to  know  whether  the  gods  had  accepted  it  and  would 
be  kind.  But  it  was  difficult  to  know  their  will,  and  only 
men  of  the  priestly  colleges,  trained  for  years  in  the 
science  of  reading  signs  and  in  the  rituals  of  religion, 
could  know  the  attitude  of  the  gods.  So  always  in 
matters  of  war  or  state  an  augur  was  consulted.  He 
studied  the  color  of  the  flame  or  the  drifting  of  the  smoke 
or  the  movement  of  the  burning  meat,  or  he  watched  for 
birds  flying  above  or  a  sound  from  round  about.  In  such 
signs  he  could  read  the  pleasure  or  the  displeasure  of  the 
gods  and  could  advise  whether  to  go  on  with  the  thing 
planned  or  to  wait  and  perform  further  sacrifice.  So  the 
Romans  seemed  to  walk  continually  under  the  frown  of 
the  gods,  always  trying  to  win  their  smiles. 


A  Roman  Woman  Sacrificing 


[83] 


84  THE  ANCIENT   WORLD 

Rome  had  begun  her  history  under  kings,  but  she 
grew  dissatisfied  with  them,  expelled  them,  and  set  up  a 
republic.  That  is  a  government  by  which  the 
Govern-  people  rule  themselves  through  officers  whom 
509  (?)  b.c.  tney  elect>  as  we  do  in  the  United  States.  The 
chief  officer  the  Romans  called,  not  president, 
but  consul,  and  they  chose  two,  one  to  check  the  other, 
lest  one  might  try  to  make  himself  king.  These  consuls 
were  elected  by  an  assembly  of  the  people,  meeting  in  an 
open  field,  much  like  the  assembly  of  Athens.  There  was 
a  senate  of  three  hundred  members,  whose  business  it  was 
to  advise  the  consuls  and  to  help  the  assembly  make  laws. 

The  republic  was  not  perfect,  and  very  soon  people 
began  to  find  fault  with  it  and  to  try  to  improve  it. 
There  were  always  two  classes  in  Rome :  the  patrician 
and  the  plebeian,  that  is,  the  noble  and  the  common. 
When  Rome  first  became  a  republic,  only  the  patricians 
had  privileges.  The  plebeians  might  not  hold  any  office, 
did  not  have  a  fair  chance  to  vote,  might  not  marry  a 
patrician,  did  not  know  what  the  laws  were,  and  were  in 
many  ways  ill  treated  by  the  patricians. 

But  the  plebeians  grew  richer,  stronger,  and  better 
educated,  and  they  would  not  endure  being  thus  shut 
out.  So  after  a  struggle  of  two  hundred  years 
and  more  they  gained  equal  rights  with  the 
patricians.  In  the  senate  sat  rich  commoners  beside  the 
patrician  descendants  of  noble  families  that  could  trace 
their  lineage  back  to  the  time  when  Rome  had  been  a 
farming  village.  Below  these  men  of  wealth  or  blood 
was  a  great  mass  of  commoners,  poor,  but  with  the  right 
to  vote  and  to  hold  office. 

From  the  first  the  Roman  army  had  been  the  great 
pride  and  strength  of  the  people.  Every  citizen  between 
the  ages  of  eighteen  and  sixty  years  owed  military  serv- 


A  Roman  Sacrifice  before  a  Temple 

In  the  center  stands  a  Roman  emperor  about  to  make  the  sacrifice.     An  assist- 
ant holds  the  ax  that  is  to  slay  the  bull.     Behind  him  a  man  carries  one  of 
the  holy  dishes,  and  so  does  a  boy  standing  next  to  the  emperor.     Another  boy 
is  playing  the  flute.     The  three-legged  table  in  the  center  serves  as  altar 


[85 1 


86  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

ice.     No   man   received   pay  for   this   service ;    it   was 
his  duty  to  the  state.     These  citizen-soldiers  were  welded 

into  close  brotherhood.  Neighbor  touched  el- 
£he  bow  with  neighbor  when  he  stood  in  the  Forum 

Army  to  vo^e  or  m  the  ^e^  to  fight.     Together  these 

warrior  citizens  trained  and  exercised  just  out- 
side of  Rome  on  the  field  of  Mars.  By  such  organi- 
zation and  practice,  a  strong,  patriotic,  closely  knit 
army  had  grown  up  in  Rome  and  had  made  her  supreme 
in  Italy. 

No  wonder  that  these  Romans  were  a  proud  people! 
They  had  seen  Rome  grow  from  a  village 2  to  be  the  owner 
of  a  great  state.  They  saw  their  city  still  growing  larger 
and  richer.  In  every  war  of  their  history  they  had  won, 
sooner  or  later.  They  felt  themselves  brave  and  honest. 
They  looked  back  with  respect  upon  their  ancestors  and 
looked  forward  with  hope. 

They  did  much  to  encourage  this  pride  among  the 
people.  When  a  famous  man  died,  he  had  a  public 
funeral.  His  body  was  placed  upon  the  rostrum  in  the 
Forum  where   all  the   people   could   see,  and  a  relative 

made  an  oration, 'telling  of  his  deeds.     A  mask 

oman  Q£   wax  wag   cag^.    ^Q    j      ^  jy^  j^  face     an(j   ^ 

Pride 

was  set  up  in  his  house  to  remind  his  children  of 

their  great  and  good  father.     Some  families  had  many 

such  masks  of  their  great  ancestors,  and  they  were  proud 

of  them.      At  the  funeral  of  any  of  their    house,    men 

wore  these  masks  and  walked  in  the  procession  as  if  to 

say,  "  Behold  how  many  good  Romans  there  have  been : 

let  us  be  worthy  of  them." 

For  much  the  same  purpose  a  victorious  general  was 

allowed  a  "triumph."     He  and  his  army  gathered  outside 

the  city  wall  on  the  field  of  Mars,  the  training  ground  of 

*See  also  page  76. 


ROME   GROWS  STRONG  87 

Rome.  From  there  started  a  procession  headed  by  the 
senate  and  officers  of  the  city.  Trumpeters  followed, 
blowing  warlike  notes  and  calling  the  attention 
of  the  world.  Then  came  the  spoils  that  had 
been  taken  from  the  enemy  —  armor  on  wagons,  perhaps 
a  statue  or  a  crown  or  a  throne,  a  chariot  in  which  a  king 
or  general  of  the  foe  had  ridden.  There  were  tableaux 
on  floats  representing  the  nation  that  had  been  defeated 
or  a  river  that  had  been  crossed  or  a  mountain  that 
had  been  won.  Then  came  cattle  for  the  sacrifice,  horns 
gilded  and  wreathed  with  garlands.  After  them  in  chains 
sadly  walked  captives  taken  in  battle. 

Behind  them  four  horses  drew  the  chariot  in  which 
stood  the  victorious  general,  dressed  in  a  purple  robe 
embroidered  with  golden  palm  leaves.  He  carried  in  his 
right  hand  a  branch  of  laurel,  symbol  of  victory,  and  in 
his  left  an  ivory  scepter  with  an  eagle  at  its  end,  symbol 
of  power.  A  slave  held  a  golden  crown  above  his  head, 
yet  whispered  in  his  ear  that  after  all  he  must  not  forget 
that  he  was  only  a  man.  Behind  the  victor  followed 
the  army  that  had  helped  him  to  gain  his  victory,  and 
the  soldiers  sang  and  shouted. 

The  city  streets  through  which  the  procession  wound 
were  decked  with  garlands,  and  every  flat  roof  and  door- 
way and  open  space  was  crowded  with  people,  shouting 
and  throwing  flowers.  The  procession  climbed  the 
Capitol  Hill,  where  the  temple  of  Jupiter  stood.  The 
victor  laid  his  laurel  branch  in  the  lap  of  the  god  and 
sacrificed  the  cattle  in  thanksgiving.  People  went  home 
thinking  of  Rome's  army  and  the  courage  of  her  men, 
many  a  boy  hoping  that  some  day  he  might  ride  in  that 
glorious  chariot  and  hear  the  applause  of  the  people. 

Every  Roman  mother  believed  it  her  duty  to  tell  her 
sons  stories  of  the  old  Romans  who  had  made  Rome. 


88  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

She  told  of  brave  Horatius  and  his  two  friends,  who 
alone  kept  back  a  mighty  Etruscan  army,  while  the 
Romans  hewed  down  the  bridge  over  which  the 
A  Few  of  enemy  had  thought  to  march  into  Rome.  And 
of  Rome  when  it  fell  crashing,  Horatius,  needing  no 
longer  to  fight,  leaped  into  the  river,  and  in 
spite  of  weariness  and  wounds,  in  spite  of  the  enemy  on 
the  bank,  swam  in  safety  to  Rome. 

"Let  nothing  make  you  afraid  in  the  cause  of  Rome," 
mothers  would  say  to  their  sons.  "Let  nothing  shake 
your  determination,  just  as  nothing  could  daunt  the 
noble  youth,  Caius  Mucius.  He  had  tried  to  kill  the 
king  of  Etruria,  for  Etruria  was  at  war  with  Rome  and 
would  have  put  a  king  over  her  once  more.  When 
Mucius  was  caught,  carrying  the  very  dagger  with  which 
he  had  meant  to  kill  the  king,  he  would  tell  no  Roman 
secrets.  The  king  thought  to  frighten  him  and  had  fires 
built  all  about  him,  threatening  to  push  them  closer  if  the 
young  man  did  not  tell  his  secret.  'Behold  me/  cried 
Mucius,  '  that  you  may  see  of  how  little  account  the  body 
is  to  those  who  have  great  glory  in  view.'  Then  he 
thrust  his  right  hand  into  the  fire  and  held  it  there  until 
it  was  burned  off.  'There  are  three  hundred  young  men 
like  me  waiting  to  kill  you  if  I  fail,'  he  said.  Even  that 
cruel  king  admired  such  courage  and  such  devotion  to 
country,  and  he  set  the  young  man  free." 

Such  stories,  heard  at  his  mother's  knee  and  shown 
by  statue  or  carving  in  the  public  places,  bred  bravery 
and  patriotism  in  the  Roman  boy.  Daily,  also,  he  went 
with  his  father  to  the  field  of  Mars  beside  the  river  to  see 
the  young  men  run,  leap,  box,  and  wrestle,  throw  the 
spear,  and  ride  spirited  horses.  Soon  he,  too,  entered  into 
these  sports  and  was  trained  for  vigorous,  fearless  man- 
hood. 


ROME  GROWS  STRONG  89 

1.  What  differences  are  there  between  the  shores  of  Greece  and  those 
of  Italy?  2.  What  do  people  mean  when  they  say  that  Italy  turns  her 
back  on  the  East?  3.  Quickly  sketch  the  chief  mountain  ranges  of 
Greece  and  those  of  Italy.  What  differences  do  you  see?  4.  Model 
Rome  and  the  surrounding  country  in  sand.  5.  Compare  the  pictures 
of  Greek  costume  (pages  35,  41,  46,  47)  with  the  Roman  (pages  80, 
81,  83,  85).  6.  The  Roman  house  pictured  on  page  78  was  much 
like  the  Greek  house  described  on  pages  40  and  42.  To  what  kind  of 
climate  does  this  sort  of  house  seem  well  fitted?  In  such  a  climate 
should  you  rather  live  in  it  than  in  our  type  of  house?  7.  What 
qualities  of  character  did  the  Romans  admire  most  strongly?  How 
can  you  tell?  8.  What  hero  stories  do  Americans  tell  their  children 
to  show  them  the  goodness  and  worthiness  of  their  country?  9.  Write 
a  dialogue  that  two  young  Romans  walking  in  the  Forum  might  have 
had  concerning  the  greatness  of  Rome,  their  love  for  her,  their  religion. 


CHAPTER  V 

ROME  CONQUERS  THE  WORLD 

How  Rome  Conquered  Carthage 

Another  great  city  was  jealously  watching  Rome's 
growth.  This  was  Carthage,  an  old  colony  of  Phoenicia 
on  the  shore  of  Africa.  She  was  not  a  mere  city;  she 
had  her  line  of  colonies  running  like  a  chain  around  the 
western  end  of  the  Mediterranean.  The  coasts  of  Africa 
and  of  Spain  were  hers,  the  shores  of  Sardinia  and  of 
Sicily,  and  many  small  islands  besides. 

While  Rome  had  been  making  herself  mistress  of  Italy, 
Carthage  had  been  making  herself  mistress  of  the  sea. 
For  besides  her  lands,  she  had  great  fleets  of  ships, 
thousands  of  slaves  to  row  them,  and  plenty  of  money  to 
hire  sailors  and  soldiers.  She  boasted  that  a  Roman 
could  not  wash  his  hands  in  the  sea  without  asking  leave 
of  her.  Her  ships  were  known  in  every  Mediterranean 
port,  and  they  carried  a  thousand  precious  things  for 
sale.  She  wanted  to  keep  the  monopoly  of  this  trade, 
but  more  and  more  Roman  traders  were  invading  her 
business  territory. 

The  new  Roman  borders,  moreover,  were  now  not  far 
from  the  Carthaginian  colonies  of  Sicily.  So  Carthage 
Rome  and  DeSan  to  look  with  great  suspicion  upon  Rome. 
Carthage  At  the  same  time  the  Romans  were  looking 
Become  enviously  upon  Carthage.  The  rich  Romans 
Enemies  wanted  new  lands  for  farming,  the  manufac- 
turers wanted  new  customers  for  their  goods,  the  traders 
wanted  more  room  for  commerce,  the  state  thought  that 

9a 


ROME  CONQUERS  THE  WORLD  91 

Carthage  in  Sicily  was  too  close  a  neighbor  to  her  southern 
shore. 

So  the  two  states  sat  facing  each  other  across  the 
water,  with  Sicily  like  a  stepping  stone  between  them. 
Only  two  years  after  Rome  had  made  herself 
mistress  of  Italy,  the  trouble  with  Carthage  i6i"241 
began  over  a  quarrel  which  started  in  Sicily. 
There  followed  a  twenty-three  years '  war.     Rome  began 
it  on  land.     There  she  could  defeat  Carthaginian  armies 
and  take  Carthaginian  land.     But  of  what  use  was  that, 


A  Trireme 

The  sculptor  of  the  relief  has  shortened  the  ship  and  left  out  most  of  the  rowers 
and  all  the  fighting  men.  Yet  we  can  see  the  bronze  beak  for  ramming,  the  pilot's 
oars  in  place  of  the  rudder,  and  the  three  banks  of  oars,  though  they  are  too 

crowded 

when  the  Carthaginian  fleet  worried  the  coast,  burned  the 
sea  towns,  captured  grain  ships  and  boat-loads  of  soldiers  ? 
"We  must  have  a  fleet,"  said  Rome,  "and  the  ships 
must  be  like  the  big  new  galleys  of  Carthage,  not  like  the 
little  old-fashioned  boats  that  we  have  had."  The  gods 
seemed  to  help  them,  for  a  big  Carthaginian  warship  was 


92 


THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 


wrecked  upon  the  Italian  coast.  This  the  Romans 
copied.  It  had,  besides  a  big  sail,  300  long  oars  arranged 
in  five  banks,  one  above  another.  A  sharp  iron  beak, 
with  a  great  tooth  at  each  side,  thrust  itself  out  at  the 
bow,  and  when  the  300  rowers  pulled  their  best,  the 
heavy  ship  bit  into  the  enemy's  ship  and  tore  it  open  as  a 
vulture  tears  its  prey.  High  on  the  mast  was  a  crow's  nest 
and  in  the  bow  a  walled  forecastle,  where  men  could  fight. 

In  sixty  days  Rome  built  120  ships  of  this  sort.  With 
her  new  fleet  she  met  the  enemy  and  won  a  great  victory. 
Four  times  during  the  war  her  fleets  were  de- 
B  JJ  stroyed  in  storm  or  battle  and  four  times  rebuilt. 

One  of  her  armies  was  wiped  out  in  fight  and 
another  drowned  in  a  storm.  A  sixth  of  all  the  fighting  men 
of  Rome  were  killed,  and  yet  fresh  troops  were  always  ready 
at  need.  Such  dogged  courage  could  but  win.  The  Car- 
thaginians asked  for  peace  and  gave  up  Sicily  to  their  con- 
querors.    The  Romans  had  stepped  outside  of  Italy. 

But  proud  Carthage  was  not  content.  For  twenty- 
three  years  she  kept  the  peace,  yet  she  was  using  the 
time  to  prepare  punishment  for  Rome.  A  Carthaginian 
patriot,  Hamilcar,  a  statesman  and  a  warrior,  built  up  a 
nation  in  Spain  among  its  half -civilized  people.  There 
he  gathered  and  trained  an  army,  opened  silver  mines 
that  should  be  able  to  pay  that  army,  planted  towns  that 
might  furnish  it  supplies,  built  a  port  that  should  protect 
a  fleet;  and  all  the  time  his  eyes  were  on  Rome.  He 
died  before  the  two  countries  came  to  the  grip  again. 
Yet  he  had  trained  up  a  son  greater  than  himself,  and  as 
much  an  enemy  of  Rome. 

That  son,  Hannibal,  had  grown  up  in  the  soldiers' 
camp ;  and  there  was  not  a  muscle  in  his  body  but  was 
firm  and  untiring,  not  a  nerve  but  was  quick  and  steady, 
not  a  thought  but  was  patriotic.     He  loved  Carthage,  and 


ROME   CONQUERS  THE   WORLD 


93 


he  hated  Rome.     This  man,  when  he  was  thirty  years 

old,   took  up   the  army  that  his  father  had 

made  and  the  war  that  his  father  had  planned,  ^"^f 

Part  of  his  soldiers  he  left  to  protect  Spain,  20I  *BC 

part  he  sent  to  guard  Carthage  and  the  coast 

of  Africa,  but  the  great  mass  he  led  straight  into  Italy. 


The  stippled  territory  belonged  to  Rome ;  the  hatched  area  to  Carthage 

It  was  a  march  of  500  miles  from  Spain.  There  were 
rivers  to  cross,  hostile  tribes  to  win  a  way  through, 
and  a  rugged  wall  of  snow-topped  mountains  to  pass. 
For  more  than  two  weeks  the  armies  climbed  the  steep 
mountain  trail.  Sometimes  the  men  and  baggage-mules 
slipped  from  the  narrow,  snow-covered  paths  and  plunged 
over  the  precipice.  The  mountain  tribes  hid  behind 
rocks  and  worried  the  army  and  killed  the  stragglers. 
The  men  suffered  from  cold  and  from  hunger,  for  food 
was  difficult  to  find  here  on  barren  mountains. 

Hannibal  started  from  Spain  with  an  army  of  50,000 
fresh  soldiers ;  he  trailed  down  from  the  fierce  Alps  into 


94  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

Italy  with  26,000  men,  hungry,  tired,  and  discouraged. 
The  mountains  had  done  their  best  to  protect  Italy. 
With  that  small  army,  however,  he  met  the  Romans  and 
defeated  them.  For  seventeen  years  he  led  his  troops 
about  in  Italy,  feeding  them  on  Italian  crops,  living  in 
Italian  towns,  every  moment  on  guard,  proving  himself 
one  of  the  greatest  generals  of  the  world. 

But  it  was  one  man  against  a  nation.  Hannibal  could 
win  battles,  but  he  could  not  win  friends.  He  had  hoped 
that  those  Latins  and  Italians  whom  Rome  had  con- 
quered,1 and  whom  she  held  so  much  against  their  will, 
would  welcome  him  and  would  turn  against  their  old 
enemy.  But  most  of  them  stood  fast  for  Rome  against 
the  foreigner. 

During  that  long  war  300,000  men  of  Italy  fell  in 
battle.  In  the  single  fight  of  Cannae  70,000  were  left 
dead  on  the  field.  More  than  half  of  the  senators  of 
Rome  died  in  that  battle,  and  one  seventh  of  all  the  men 
of  Italy  who  were  of  age  to  fight.  But  immediately  the 
Roman  ranks  were  filled  again. 

There  was  no  sacrifice  that  the  people  would  not  make. 
For  many  years  every  man  in  Italy  of  fighting  age  was 
in  the  army.  Farms  lay  abandoned,  or  a  few  fields  were 
worked  by  old  men  and  boys  and  by  women  and  girls. 
Rome's  public  money  was  soon  spent.  When  she  needed 
a  new  navy,  wealthy  Romans  gave  money  from  their 
own  purses  to  build  it.  Contractors,  who  had  been 
doing  Rome's  work  of  various  kinds  for  many  years, 
refused  now  to  take  pay  but  gave  their  services  to  their 
country.  So  with  patient  courage  and  self-sacrifice  Italy 
fed  men  and  money  into  this  hungry  war.  She  even 
sent  an  extra  army  into  Sicily  to  hold  it,  and  another 
into  Spain  to  take  it  away  from  Carthage. 

* ^ee  also  page  77. 


ROME  CONQUERS  THE  WORLD 


95 


Hannibal  had  no  such  patriotism  to  help  him.  Car- 
thage across  the  sea  was  untouched  and  safe.  To  be  sure, 
she  was  proud  of  her  brilliant  general,  who  was  winning 
battles  off  there  in  Italy,  and  yet  she  was  jealous,  too. 
She  was  stingy,  moreover,  and  unwilling  to  spare  him 
more  men  and  money.  "Let  him  shift  for  himself,"  she 
seemed  to  say. 


Rome  and  Carthage 

At  the  end  of  the  Second  Punic  War 


The  stippled  territory  belonged  to  Rome  ;  the  hatched  area  to  Carthage 


But  an  army  cannot  live  in  an  enemy's  country  without 
help  from  home.  So  gradually  the  Romans  closed  about 
Hannibal  and  shut  him  up  in  the  southern  end  of  Italy. 
At  last  they  sent  an  army  into  Africa  and  threatened 
Carthage  herself.  Then  the  proud  city  sent  for  its  great 
general  to  come  home.  Hannibal  and  his  army  left  Italy, 
landed  in  Africa,  met  the  Romans,  and  were  defeated. 
Carthage  again  asked  for  peace. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  Carthaginian,  or  Punic,  war 
Rome  had  got  Sicily,  and  a  year  or  two  later  she  had 
seized  Sardinia  and  Corsica.     Now  she  took  also  Hamil- 


96  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

car's  Spain,  or  rather  the  nearer  shores  of  it,  for  the  in- 
land part  was  still  savage  and  independent.  Carthage 
gave  up  her  ships  and  her  war  elephants.  She  promised 
to  pay  a  large  sum  of  money  to  Rome  and  to  make  no  war 
without  Rome's  consent. 

But  Carthage  seemed  to  thrive  on  defeat.  Fifty 
years  after  Hannibal's  war  she  was  as  prosperous 
as  ever.  Rome  felt  it  an  insult  for  her  beaten  enemy  to 
be  larger  and  richer  than  herself,  with  more  ships  and 
a  fuller  harbor  and  a  busier  market.  In  jealousy 
and  hatred  men  began  to  say,  "  Carthage  must  be  de- 
stroyed." 

Soon  Rome  found  an  excuse  for  war.  The  Carthagin- 
ians were  desperate  with  fear  and  patriotism,  and  they 
held  out  for  three  years  against  the  hated 
iSDe-  Romans.  But  at  last  their  strong  walls  fell, 
stroyed,  their  rich  city  was  burned,  their  people  were 
149-146  captured  and  sold  as  slaves.  A  Roman  general 
ran  a  plow  over  the  ground  where  Carthage 
had  stood,  as  if  to  say:  aWe  have  swept  our  enemy 
from  the  face  of  the  earth.  Men's  feet  shall  never 
again  tread  her  streets.  Her  rnafket-place"  has  become 
a  grain-field.  Cursed  be  he  who  shall  try  to  rebuild 
her!" 

By  this  cruel  war  Rome  gained  whatever  land  was  left 
Rome  t°  Carthage  on  the  shores  of  Africa.     A  new 

Mistress  empire  —  Italy,  Sicily,  Spain,  Africa,  and  the 
of  the  West  islands  of  the  sea  —  had  grown  up  in  the  West, 
and  Rome  was  mistress  of  it. 

Rome's  Conquest  of  the  East 

In  Chapter  III  we  left  the  East  united  for  a  few  years 
under  the  arms  of  a  great  general,  Alexander.  But  it 
was  like  caging  lions  and  horses  together ;  they  could  not 


ROME  CONQUERS  THE  WORLD  97 

learn  one  another's  ways  and  live  in  peace.  Alexander, 
like  a  master  trainer,  could  hold  them  in  check,  but  he 
died  before  he  had  taught  them  to  live  in  unity,  and  before 
he  had  taught  his  generals  how  to  rule  the  great 
empire  he  had  made.  Even  as  the  beloved 
conqueror's  body  lay  on  the  bier  waiting  to  be  buried, 
his  generals  fell  to  quarreling  over  who  should  be  ruler  in 
his  place. 

After  a  few  years  it  all  ended  in  the  splitting  of  the 
empire  into  three  great  kingdoms  —  Macedon,  Syria,  and 
Egypt.  On  the  fringes  of  these  great  countries  little 
states  were  always  cropping  up,  swelling  into  importance 
under  one  king  and  sinking  into  littleness  again  under 
the  next.  Greece  herself  was,  as  usual,  divided  and  in 
turmoil.  Some  cities  quietly  accepted  the  rule  of  Mace- 
don, others  struggled  bravely  against  it. 

All  these  changes  in  the  East  had  happened  behind 
Rome's  back,  while  she  had  been  conquering 
Italy.      She  had  hardly  known  of  the  events  ]?ome 
and  had  been  little  interested.      Indeed,   the  Eastward 
West  and  the  East  seemed  like  two  different 
worlds.     Yet  some  of  the  Western  peoples  had  friends  or 
enemies  in  the  East.     A  Greek  prince  had  fought  against 
Rome  on  behalf  .of  the  Italian  Greeks ;   and  during  Han- 
nibal's war  the  king  of  Macedon  had  helped  the  Car- 
thaginians.    Moreover,  pirates  from  the  coast  north  of 
Greece  had  often  troubled  Rome. 

So  after  her  wars  in  Italy  were  over,  and  after  she  had 
won  the  first  glorious  Punic  war,  Rome,  thus  pricked  in 
the  back,  at  last  faced  about  and  cast  her 
eyes  on  the  East,  full  of  its  jealousies  and  wars. 
The  first  step  she  took  was  to  punish  the  pirates  and  take 
a  few  of  their  cities  for  her  own.  Her  next  step  landed 
her  in  Macedon.     There  were  three  wars  here  many  years 


gS  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

apart,  as  there  had  been  with  Carthage,  and  they  ended 

as  the  Punic  wars  had  ended,  in  victory  for 
g1^-107       Rome.     Corinth,  the  "eye  of  Greece,"  as  she 

was  called,  was  destroyed  as  Carthage  was 
destroyed,  and  Roman  governors  ruled  over  the  land  of 

Alexander,  and  over  the  cities  of  Pericles  and 

of  Leonidas. 
But  the  defeated  Greeks  called  upon  a  great  king  of 
Syria,  himself  a  Macedonian,  to  help  them.     The  Romans 

beat  him  at  old  Thermopylae,  chased  him 
Mistress  across  the  sea,  and  defeated  him  again  in  Asia, 
of  the  Rome's  third  step  had  taken  her  far  into  the 

East,  66-63  old  world,  more  than  a  thousand  miles  from 

B.C.  , 

home. 

One  after  another,  in  the  years  to  come,  the  countries 
of  western  Asia  fell  into  Roman  hands.  Pompey,  the 
Roman  general  who  did  most  in  these  wars,  boasted  that 
he  had  conquered  twenty-two  kings  and  twelve  million 
people.  By  the  year  60  b.c.  Rome  had  won  most  of 
Alexander's  old  empire. 

It  was  the  great  general,  Pompey,  too,  who,  just  before 
his  conquest  of  the  East,  made  Rome  mistress  of  the  sea 
by  putting  an  end  to  the  pirates.  Rome  had  already 
punished  those  of  the  Adriatic,1  but  those  of  the  East 
still  flourished.  For  years  the  Mediterranean  had  been 
infested  with  them.  In  the  eastern  seas  alone  there  had 
been  a  thousand  pirate  ships.  These  men  had  been 
daring  beyond  belief.  One  pirate  chief  had  sailed  into 
the  harbor  of  the  great  city  of  Syracuse  in  Sicily,  had 
captured  it,  made  it  his  headquarters,  and  sent  raiders 
hither  and  thither  through  the  rich  island  under  the 
very  nose  of  the  Roman  governor.  Once  the  pirate  fleet 
had  met  the  Roman  ships  in  the  harbor  of  Ostia,  only 

1  See  page  97. 


ROME  CONQUERS  THE  WORLD  99 

twelve  miles  from  Rome,  and  had  defeated  them.  Certain 
islands  and  coast  cities  had  paid  a  yearly  tribute  of  gold 
to  the  pirates  and  so  had  bought  their  protection  against 
themselves.  There  had  been  pirate  towns  on  the  sea- 
coasts  of  the  East  where  the  men  had  lived  between  raids 
and  where  they  had  kept  their  families  and  their  precious 
stores.  A  merchant,  when  he  sent  out  a  rich  cargo  by 
ship,  had  not  known  whether  it  would  reach  its  own  port 
or  some  pirate  hold. 

Finally  Rome  sent  Pompey  to  clean  out  these  nests  of 
pirates.     He  did  it  thoroughly.     Inside  of  three  months 
1300  pirate  ships  were  destroyed,  10,000  pirates  Rome 
killed,    and    20,000    captured.     Their    strong-  Mistress 
holds    were   burned,   their  prisoners   set   free,  of  the  Sea, 
their    stores    taken    and    distributed    among    7  BC* 
the    Roman    soldiers    or    turned    over    to   the   Roman 
treasury.     After  that,  merchant   ships   could   go   safely 
to  and   fro   carrying  things  of   all   sorts   from   end   to 
end  of  the  world. 

Caesar's  War  in  Gaul,  58-50  B.C. 

Meantime  the  empire  was  still  further  growing  in  the 
West.     The  story  of  this  conquest  is  very  different  from 
that  of  the  conquest  of  the  East.     The  western 
war  was  with  barbarians,   brave  and  hardy.  ^ome 
Rome  got  from  it,  not  treasures  of  gold  and  0f  the  West 
jewelry,    but    great    stretches    of    wild    forest. 
Here  the  Romans  became,  not  learners,  as  they  were  in 
the    East,    but    teachers.     Julius    Caesar's    conquest    of 
Gaul  shows  better  than  any  other  war  the  condition  of 
the  peoples  of  western  Europe.     It  shows,  too,  what  the 
Roman  army  at  its  best  could  do. 

For  eight  years  Caesar  marched  hither  and  thither  through 
Gaul.     He  played  a  great  game,  moving  his  army  about 


IOO 


THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 


so  quickly  that  he  was  always  appearing  unexpectedly 
at  just  the  wrong  minute  for  his  enemy.  He  was  always 
surprising  them  —  fording  a  swift  river  that  was  up  to  the 
shoulders ;  pretending  to  retreat  and  then  suddenly  facing 
about ;  marching  fifty  miles  in  one  day  and  night ;  digging 
out  a  road  through  six  feet  of  snow ;  rebuilding  a  bridge 
on  ruined  piles  that  the  enemy  had  left. 


The  Dying  Gaul 

The  Gauls  were  a  good  match  for  the  Romans.  They 
had  towns  protected  with  well-built  walls  of  stones 
and  timber.  They  were  brilliant  horsemen.  They  had 
swords  as  long  as  spears  (so  a  certain  Roman  said)  and 
spearheads  as  long  as  swords.  They  were  strong  of  body 
and  fierce  of  look.  Their  helmets  were  decorated  with 
threatening  horns  or  frightful  animal  heads.  They  ran 
into  battle  with  fearful  shouts. 

Caesar  himself,  who  wrote  his  own  story  of  his  Gallic 
war,  gives  many  examples  of  their  bravery.  He  says  of 
the  Gauls  in  a  certain  battle,  "But  the  enemy,  even  in 
the  last  hope  of  safety,  showed  such  great  courage  that 
when  the  foremost  of  them  had  fallen,  the  next  stood 


ROME   CONQUERS  THE   WORLD  ioi 

upon  them  prostrate  and  fought  from,  their  bodies.;  when 
these  were  overthrown,  and  their  corpses  heaped  ap  to- 
gether, those  who  survived  cast  their  weapons  against 
our  men  as  from  a  mound." 

Yet  in  spite  of  their  courage  and  their  numbers,  Caesar 
completely  conquered  the  whole  nation  of  the  Gauls  and 
made  the  country  a  Roman  province/  Why  was  it 
possible  for  him  to  do  it?  Partly  because  the  Gauls  had 
no  idea  of  standing  together.  A  half-civilized  people 
never  seems  to  know  the  meaning  of  unity.  So  here  in 
Gaul  tribe  was  jealous  of  tribe,  leaders  were  jealous  of 
one  another,  men  were  suspicious  of  their  chiefs.  When 
one  tribe  was  making  a  brave  fight,  the  others,  instead 
of  rushing  to  their  aid  and  wiping  the  Romans  out  by 
their  united  strength,  stood  by  and  watched. 

Another  aid  to  the  Romans  was  the  fact  that  during 
their  centuries  of  warfare  they  had  invented  many 
strange  and  clever  engines.     The  Gauls,  shutting  ^onJan 
themselves  now  and  then  inside  one  of  their  ofWar 
fenced  towns  and  stationing  their  brave  guards 
on  the  wall,  thought  themselves  safe.     But   Csesar   im- 
mediately began  to  build  a  dozen  things. 

There  was  no  gunpowder  then,  but  the  Greeks  or 
Romans  had  invented  a  fair  substitute.  Perhaps  you 
have  put  a  stick  between  the  strands  of  a  double  string 
and  twisted  it  around  and  around.  If  you  then  held  the 
string  tightly  stretched  and  let  the  stick  go,  the  string 
untwisted  with  a  great  whirr,  the  stick  flew  around,  and 
the  stroke  from  it  was  very  unpleasant.  The  Romans 
used  this  idea.  But  instead  of  a  string  they  used  many 
strands  of  rope,  and  their  stick  was  very  thick  and  heavy. 
They  mounted  the  rope  in  a  strong  frame  and  invented 
ways  of  twisting  it  tight,  of  holding  it  firmly,  and  of 
letting  it  go  suddenly.     In  front  of  the  whirring  stick 


IG2 


THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 


they  put  stones  or  balls  of  lead  or  stout  arrows.  One  of 
these  catapults  could  shoot  an  arrow  a  thousand  feet 
and  drive  it  into  a  board  for  two  inches. 

Another   Roman   machine   was   a   battering  ram   for 
beating  down  stone  walls.     It  was  a  heavy  timber  swung 


A  Movable  Tower 

A  modern  drawing.  Tracks  were  built  on  which  to  move  the  tower.  Notice 
the  rollers  under  it.  A  bridge  has  been  let  down  across  the  enemy's  ditch. 
You  cannot  see  the  wall  of  the  besieged  place.     The  men  are  running  toward  it 

in  loops  of  rope  and  mounted  on  wheels.  Men  ran  with 
it  against  the  walls,  beating  again  and  again  at  the  same 
spot.  Still  more  wonderful  was  the  movable  tower.  It 
was  eighty  or  ninety  feet  high..  The  soldiers  built  it  at 
some  distance  from  the  town,  where  they  were  safe. 
Then  they  got  inside  at  the  bottom  of  it  and  pushed  it 
forward  on  its  rollers  close  to  the  enemy's  wall.     When 


ROME   CONQUERS  THE  WORLD  103 

it  was  near  enough,  they  ran  up  the  inside  stairways  to 
the  top  and  began  shooting  arrows  and  throwing  stones 
down  upon  the  guard  on  the  city  wall.  Besides,  they 
dropped  a  swinging  bridge  from  the  tower  top  upon  the 
wall  and  rushed  over  it  and  into  the  town. 

At  other  times  they  dug  mines.  They  put  down  a 
shaft  in  some  safe  place  in  their  own  camp.  From  the 
bottom  of  this  they  tunneled  along  under  the  ground 
and  under  the  wall.  Then  they  dug  a  shaft  upward  to 
end  in  the  town.  Some  dark  night,  when  the  Gauls  were 
unsuspecting,  a  troop  of  besiegers,  with  swords  ready, 
crawled  through  the  tunnel,  dug  away  the  last  layers  of 
earth,  and  came  out  into  the  city.  Generally  only  a  few 
men  entered  in  this  way,  stole  to  the  gate,  killed  the 
guards,  opened  the  doors,  and  signaled  to  the  waiting 
army  outside  to  enter. 

Or  sometimes  the  Romans  built  a  great  mound  of 
earth  against  the  outside  of  the  wall.  From  this  they 
could  shoot 'down  into  the  town  and  later  charge  along  it 
and  leap  into  the  city.  There  were  scaling  ladders,  too, 
which  the  soldiers  set  against  the  wall  and  by  which 
they  tried  to  climb  up  and  over. 

To  be  sure,  while  the  Romans  outside  were  using  these 
engines  and  doing  this  building  and  digging,  the  Gauls 
were  throwing  lighted  torches  or  burning  arrows  at  their 
engines,  and  rocks  and  melted  lead  and  hot  water  at  the 
soldiers.  So  the  Romans  had  planned  ways  of  protect- 
ing themselves.  They  made  sheds  of  stout  beams  and 
put  them  on  rollers.  Men  stood  in  them  and  pushed 
them  about  to  guard  themselves  as  they  worked  the  bat- 
tering ram  or  dug  mines  or  carried  earth  for  the  mound. 

Besides,  the  soldiers  were  trained  to  make  a  movable 
shed  out  of  their  own  oblong  wooden  shields.  To  do  this 
they  marched  shoulder  to  shoulder  and  in  perfect  time. 


fi04] 


ROME   CONQUERS   THE   WORLD  105 

Each  man  held  his  long  shield  over  his  head  with  its  edge 
tight  against  his  neighbor's  shield.  Sometimes  several 
ranks,  one  behind  another,  formed  this  tortoise,  as  they 
called  it.  It  must  have  been  a  strange  sight,  this  tight 
roof  of  bright  shields  with  marching  legs  below  it. 

Better,  however,  than  any  siege  engines  were  the  soldiers 
themselves.     Citizens    of   wealth   no    longer   wished    to 
undergo  the  discomforts  of  war  as  they  had  done  in  the 
time  of  the  struggle   against   Carthage1;    consequently 
the  fighting  fell  to  poorer  men  who  had  no  taste  for 
luxury.     They  could  not  afford  to  give  their  services  free 
of  pay  as  in  the  old  days.     Now,  moreover, 
armies  could  not  return  home  for  the  autumn  £he 
harvest  and  the  spring  planting,  as  had  been  Army 
done  in  the  days  of  the  forefathers.     They  were 
needed  all  the  year  and  every  year  in  far  distant  lands. 
Many  of  the  poorer  class,  therefore,  made  a  business  of 
war  and  hired  themselves  out  year  after  year.     Rome's 
citizen  army  had  given  place  to  a  professional  one. 

In  Caesar's  army  there  were  a  few  slingers  from  Crete, 
a  great  island  near  Greece.  They  shot  stones  or  lead 
balls  from  a  sling,  about  as  boys  do  in  our  day.  There 
was  also  a  little  band  of  archers  from  the  Balearic  Islands 
near  Italy.  There  was  a  small  troop  of  cavalry,  made  up  of 
Spaniards  and  Germans  and  the  conquered  Gauls.  But 
these  were  not  the  important  members  of  the  army.  The 
larger  part  of  it  was  the  Roman  legionaries,  citizens  from 
Rome  and  the  rest  of  Italy.  They  were  farmers  and 
shepherds,  carpenters,  blacksmiths,  and  shopkeepers  who 
had  decided  that  they  would  like  to  get  a  soldier's  pay 
and  a  soldier's  experience.  Some  of  them  were  new  recruits, 
others  had  been  in  the  army  for  ten  or  fifteen  years  and 
were  wise  in  the  game  of  war. 

1  See  also  page  84. 


io6 


THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 


There  were  five  or  six  thousand  soldiers  in  each  legion, 
and  Caesar  had  six  or  eight  legions  in  his  whole  army, 
besides  the  slingers  and  archers  and  horsemen  —  in  all 
about  fifty  thousand  men.  This  army  on  the  march  made 
a  line  perhaps  three  miles  long ;   for  besides  the  soldiers 


A  Roman  War  Scene 

In  the  background  is  a  walled  town  which  the  army  is  to  besiege.  The  sol- 
diers are  disembarking  from  boats  and  carrying  the  baggage  ashore.  Some 
already  landed  are  setting  out  for  battle.  Four  of  them  are  Germans.  In  the 
center  is  the  emperor  with  his  staff.  Soldiers  are  holding  the  officers'  horses. 
Notice  helmets  on  seven  heads 


were  pack  mules  carrying  the  baggage  —  tents  and  tent 
stakes,  picks,  shovels,  hammers,  carpenters'  tools,  black- 
smiths' tools,  and  provisions.  It  must  have  been  an 
interesting-looking  procession. 

The  slingers  wore  no  armor,  but  only  the  Greek  costume 
of  short  tunic  and  flying  short  cape  of  bright  color.  The 
legionary  wore,  over  his  shoulders  and  around  his  body, 
armor  of  shining  bronze  or  of  stiff  leather.     Below  this 


ROME  CONQUERS  THE  WORLD  107 

dropped  the  skirt  of  a  colored  tunic,  but  legs  and  arms 
were  bare.  If  the  day  was  cool,  he  had  a  bright  cape 
thrown  about  his  shoulders.  He  wore  on  his  head  or 
carried  slung  before  him  a  bright  bronze  helmet,  and  some 
of  the  officers  had  waving  plumes  of  horsehair  atop. 

Over  his  shoulders  every  man  carried  a  forked  stick  — 
his  mule,  he  called  it  —  with  a  blanket,  a  cup,  a  pan,  and 
a  week's  supply  of  food  strapped  to  it.  Perhaps  the 
burden  weighed  forty  or  fifty  pounds.  A  large  rectan- 
gular shield  hung  at  his  back  with  its  dull  cloth  cover  to 
protect  the  bronze  figures  and  painted  colors  that  made 
it  gay.  His  spears,  perhaps,  with  their  heavy  bronze 
points,  were  in  a  baggage  wagon  behind  him,  but  his 
broad  short  sword,  with  two  sharp  edges,  hung  at  his 
right  side,  where  his  fighting  hand  could  quickly  grasp  it. 

All  along  the  line  above  the  heads  of  the  men  swayed 
their  precious  standards.  Before  each  legion  went  a 
silver  eagle  with  its  proud  S.P.Q.R.,  standing  for  Senatus 
Populusque  Romanus,  — "  Senate  and  Roman  People." 
Fastened  to  the  pole  were  often  silver  medals,  that  the 
legion  had  won  for  bravery  in  some  battle.  And  before 
each  cohort,  or  smaller  division  of  the  legion,  went  its  own 
standard,  perhaps  a  wreath  or  a  wolf  or  a  hand.  The 
Roman  soldier  felt  all  the  love  for  his  silver  standard  that 
our  soldiers  feel  for  the  flag.  It  went  into  battle  before 
him,  and  it  was  bitter  dishonor  for  it  to  be  captured. 
It  was  every  man's  proud  hope  to  see  the  eagle  of  his  own 
legion  and  the  standard  of  his  own  cohort  mount  the  wall 
first  or  push  farthest  into  the  enemy's  ranks. 

From  sunrise  till  noon  the  army  marched,  covering 
perhaps  twelve  or  fifteen  miles.     Then  they 
halted  and  made  camp .     This  was  no  small  task,  •£  Roma? 
for  a  Roman  camp  was  a  fortified  town,  built 
in  a  few  hours.     The  tents  stood  in  rows  along  straight 


[io«] 


ROME  CONQUERS  THE  WORLD  109 

lanes.  The  general's  pavilion,  with  the  altar  before  it, 
stood  in  the  heart  of  the  camp  where  the  two  main  streets 
crossed  each  other.  Beside  it  on  one  hand  was  a  forum 
or  meeting  place,  on  the  other  hand  a  space  for  cooking 
and  eating.  About  the  whole  camp  went  a  wall  of  earth 
six  or  seven  feet  high  with  a  ditch  before  it  and  gates  at 
the  four  places  where  the  streets  cut  through. 

Every  man  had  his  own  share  of  the  work.  Certain 
officers  went  ahead  of  the  marching  army  and  chose  some 
gentle  hillside  and  laid  off  the  lines  of  the  camp.  When 
the  army  arrived,  some  men  unpacked  the  tents  and 
began  pitching  them.  Others  with  picks  and  shovels 
began  the  ditch,  piling  up  the  dirt  to  make  the  wall. 

When  it  was  finished  that  strong  camp  was  well  guarded. 
Soldiers  constantly  patrolled  the  wall,  guards  were  at  the 
gates,  sentinels  stood  before  the  tents  of  the  officers,  a 
trumpeter  was  always  ready  at  the  general's  door  to  give 
signals.  The  secret  watchword  for  the  night  was  given 
without  even  a  whisper,  for  it  went  about  from  hand  to 
hand  written  on  a  wax  tablet.  With  all  these  precautions 
it  was  almost  impossible  to  surprise  a  Roman  camp.  The 
soldiers  rested  there  in  comfort  and  safety.  After  victory 
or  defeat  they  came  back  to  it  as  to  a  home.  For  even 
during  a  battle  a  few  cohorts  were  always  left  to  guard  it. 

Men  who  could  build  such  a  camp  could  do  more  than 
fight.  It  was  marvelous  how  many  things  Caesar's  sol- 
diers could  do.  They  could  lay  up  stone  walls,  build 
bridges,  make  boats,  construct  catapults  and  moving 
towers,  —  and  that  in  an  enemy's  country  and  often  in 
the  wilderness  where  they  had  to  begin  with  the  living 
tree.  Besides  being  skillful  with  tools,  they  were  well 
trained  to  Use  sword  and  spear,  to  climb  walls,  to  follow 
commands  quickly  and  quietly  and  with  strict  obedience. 

Moreover,  they  were  always  in  prime  physical  condi- 


HO  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

tion.  Caesar  was  most  careful  about  collecting  provi- 
sions, and  very  rarely  did  it  happen  that  they  ran  short. 
The  half  day  in  camp  was  a  blessing.  It  gave  the  men 
time  to  eat  comfortably,  to  make  repairs  in  clothes  and 
tools,  to  dress  wounds.  In  consequence,  the  soldiers 
were  well  and  strong,  and  when  it  was  necessary  could 
endure  hardship  —  could  march  all  night  in  the  snow, 
swim  rivers,  eat  short  rations.  It  was  armies  like  this 
that  had  made  Rome  the  mistress  of  the  world. 

Conquest  Changes  the  Romans 

This  Rome  of  Caesar's  time,  the  world-ruler,  was  much 
changed  from  the  Rome  of  earlier  times.  Romans  were 
more  cultivated  than  they  had  been  in  the  old 
Romans  days.  When  the  doors  of  Greece  were  opened 
Heiienized  ^°  them,  the  wealthy  ones  flocked  there  to  visit 
this  land  of  learning  and  of  art,  and  the  poor 
who  had  to  stay  at  home  listened  hungrily  to  the  tales 
that  the  travelers  brought  back,  and  eagerly  adopted  the 
new  fashions  that  came  from  Greece.  Those  who  could 
afford  it  bought  Greek  cloth,  Greek  furniture,  Greek 
statues,  Greek  vases,  Greek  jewelry  that  merchants  im- 
ported. Greek  artists  and  builders  and  silversmiths  and 
potters  were  welcomed  into  Rome.  Greek  teachers  of 
poetry  and  music  and  oratory  had  crowded  classes. 
Roman  poets  imitated  Greek  poems  and  plays.  Roman 
gentlemen  bought  learned  Greek  slaves  to  teach  their 
children  and  to  be  their  own  secretaries.  With  her  sword 
Rome  had  unlocked  the  museum,  the  studio,  the  library, 
the  university  of  the  world,  and  now  she  was  making  use 
of  what  she  found  there. 

With  the  conquest  of  Asia  the  fine  old  Roman  ways  ol 
living  began  to  disappear.  The  conquerors  were  not 
willing  to   stand  by  and   gaze  at  the  wealth  of  those 


ROME  CONQUERS  THE  WORLD        in 

lands  they  owned.     Pompey,  at  the  end  of  his  war  in 
Asia,1  distributed  twenty  million  dollars  among 
his   soldiers,  and,  besides   that,  brought  home  ^^ast 
ten  million  dollars  and  gave  it  to  Rome. 

In  his  triumphal  procession  there  were  two-horse  car- 
riages laden  with  gold  or  with  ornaments,  also  the  couch 
of  one  king  and  the  throne  and  scepter  of  another,  and 
the  image  of  Pompey  ten  feet  high  made  of  solid  gold. 
There  were,  too,  vessels  of  gold  and  precious  stones,  three 
golden  statues,  thirty-three  crowns  adorned  with  pearls,  a 
pearl-decked  altar,  and  an  image  of  Pompey  himself  made 
all  in  pearls.  And  these  were  only  a  few  of  the  wonders 
of  that  triumphal  procession. 

It  was  a  rich  land  from  which  one  general  could  col- 
lect so  much  spoil.     Romans  were  glad  to  go  as  soldiers 
or  officers  or  merchants  to  such  a  country,  hop- 
ing to  return  laden  with  wealth.     Thus  Rome  Ro°mans 
got  a  taste  for  luxury.     Her  women  became 
fond  of  jewels,  her  men  loved  expensive  banquets  in  ten 
or  twelve  courses  with  strange  foods  from  distant  parts 
of  the  world.     Her  houses  were  hung  with  expensive 
Eastern  tapestry  and  rugs.    The  rooms  were  made  sweet 
with  burning  perfumes  from  the  East.     Dozens  of  slaves 
filled  the  houses  of  the  wealthy  and  followed  their  masters 
on  the  street.     Men  became  millionaires  and  had  city 
homes,  gardens  outside  the  walls,  and  country  houses  in 
the  mountains  or  on  the  seashore. 

These  country  villas  often  "  covered  the  space  of  a 
moderate-sized  town  with  their  garden  grounds  and  aque- 
ducts, fresh-  and  salt-water  ponds  for  the  preservation 
and  breeding  of  river  and  marine  fishes,  nurseries  of 
snails  and  slugs,  game  preserves  for  keeping  hares, 
rabbits,  stags,  roes,  and  wild  boars,  and  aviaries  in  which 

1  See  also  page  98. 


112 


THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 


even  cranes  and  peacocks  were  kept."  Some  people,  when 
they  saw  this  new  extravagance,  sighed  for  the  good  old 
days  when  Romans  had  dressed  simply,  eaten  little,  worked 
hard.  But  most  people  followed  gaily  after  the  new  fash- 
ions, if  they  could  afford  it,  and  for  the  rest  of  her  long  life 

Rome  grew  richer  and  more 
and  more  extravagant. 

Generally  only  men  from 
great  and  wealthy  families 
were  elected  to  office.  It 
was  these  ex-officers  who  sat 
in  the  senate.1  Gradually 
this  aristocratic  senate  had 
gained  more  power,  and  the 
officers  had  lost  it,  until  it  was 
the  senate  that  ruled  Rome. 
The  officers  were  only  her 
servants.  Everything  was 
done  "by  the  authority  of 
the  senate" — war  declared, 
peace  made,  money  spent, 
laws  passed,  generals  sent  out 


A  Triumphal  Arch 

Built  in  honor  of  a  Roman  general 
who  conquered  Jerusalem.  It  still 
stands  in  Rome,  though  broken  and 
much  repaired.  The  inscription  says, 
"The  senate  and  Roman  people  to 
the  divine  Titus,  son  of  the  divine 
Vespasian  [both  emperors]  and  to 
Vespasian  Augustus  " 


or  recalled.  ' '  Senator ' '  was 
the  proudest  title  in  Rome. 
While  the  senate  was  grow- 
ing strong,  a  bitter  struggle  was  going  on  between  the  rich 
and  the  poor  and  between  the  Roman  citizens  and  the 
Italians  outside  of  Rome.  The  Italians  had  no 
of  Rome1  snare  m  the  government,  and  the  poor  were 
miserably  downtrodden.  They  lived  packed 
close  in  tiny  rooms  in  big  tenement  houses  on  narrow, 
sunless  streets.  They  owned  nothing.  They  had  no  way 
to  earn  a  living,  for  some  were  too  ignorant  to  know  a  trade 

1  See  page  84. 


ROME  CONQUERS  THE  WORLD  113 

Even  those  who  were  masons  or  blacksmiths  or  car- 
penters could  get  little  work,  for  Italy  was  overrun  with 
slaves.  There  were  gangs  of  them  in  towns,  on  farms, 
on  sheep  ranches,  in  mines.  They  were  often  chained  so 
that  they  could  not  escape,  and  they  were  branded,  so 
that  if  they  did  escape  men  could  know  them  as  slaves. 
The  ones  who  did  rough  work  were  dressed  in  rags  or  in 
skins  and  were  fed  upon  the  cheapest  food,  never  tasting 
meat.  They  were  herded  in  tents  and  in  barracks  no 
better  than  cattle  sheds.  For  any  kind  of  labor  it  was 
cheaper  to  own  and  feed  such  creatures  than  to  hire  self- 
respecting  freemen. 

The  result  was  that  men  who  would  have  liked  to 
be  plowmen  or  shepherds  were  without  work.  So  they 
flocked  to  Rome,  thinking  to  get  help  there;  but  the 
same  hard  conditions  existed  in  the  city.  There  were 
slaves  trained  for  every  trade,  and  if  men  did  not  own 
them,  they  could  hire  them  at  starvation  wages.  Poor 
freemen  in  the  city,  as  well  as  in  the  country,  found 
little  work  and  grew  even  poorer.  Some  of  them  were, 
of  course,  lazy  beggars  and  rascals.  Some  of  them 
were  noisy  and  troublesome,  making  wild  threats  against 
the  rich  and  starting  bloody  street  brawls.  Others  were 
discouraged,  sullen,  dejected.  A  few  were  earnest  and 
thoughtful. 

Most  of  the  nobles  and  rich  men,  looking  upon  this 
wretched  mass  of  the  poor,  only  scorned  them  as  beasts. 
But  a  few  pitied  their  sufferings,  hated  the  injustice  of 
their  case,  and  longed  for  some  way  of  righting  their 
wrongs.  One  of  these  noble  friends  of  the  poor  said: 
"The  wild  beasts  of  Italy  have  their  caves  to  retire  to, 
but  the  brave  men  who  spill  their  blood  in  her  cause  have 
nothing  left  but  air  and  light.  Without  houses,  without 
any  settled  habitation,  they  wander  from  place  to  place 


Ii4  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

with  their  wives  and  children.  .  .  .  The  private  soldiers 
fight  and  die  to  advance  the  wealth  and  luxury  of  the 
great,  and  they  are  called  masters  of  the  world  while  they 
have  not  a  foot  of  ground  in  their  possession. " 

The  provinces  outside  of  Italy,  too,  were  unhappy  and 
badly  ruled.  These  were  the  nations  that  Rome  had  con- 
Bad  Gov-  quered  —  Sicily,  Africa,  Spain,  Gaul,  Macedon, 
eminent  Asia,  and  all  the  rest.  They  had  no  right  to 
in  the  vote,  no  voice  in  choosing  officers  and  making 

rovmces  iaws  Only  the  few  men  of  the  one  city  of 
Rome  elected  the  officers  that  governed  the  world.  A 
governor  was  sent  to  each  of  these  provinces,  with  a  few 
young  men  to  assist  him  and  an  army  to  give  him  strength. 
He  ruled  his  province  for  one  year,  and  during  that  time 
no  one,  not  even  the  officers  and  senate  of  Rome  itself, 
might  check  or  punish  him.  He  had  unlimited  power. 
He  might  imprison  men  or  have  them  executed.  He 
made  his  own  laws  and  governed  his  province  according 
to  them.  At  the  end  of  the  year  a  new  governor  came 
and  perhaps  overthrew  last  year's  laws  and  made  new 
ones. 

Under  this  plan,  if  a  bad  man  had  charge  of  a  province, 
he  could  do  unlimited  harm  to  a  country.  A  certain 
governor  of  Sicily  arrested  rich  men  on  false  charges  and 
took  their  property  for  himself.  He  tried  cases  in  court 
without  judges.  He  laid-  heavy  taxes  on  the  province, 
so  that  people  were  reduced  to  poverty.  He  boasted  at 
the  end  of  his  year  that  he  had  made  three  immense  for- 
tunes out  of  his  helpless  people. 

Cicero,  a  Roman  orator  who  lived  during  Caesar's  time, 
said,  "All  the  provinces  are  mourning,  all  the  free  peoples 
are  complaining,  all  kingdoms  remonstrate  with  us  for  our 
covetousness  and  our  wrong-doing ;  on  this  side  of  the 
ocean  there  is  no  spot  so  remote  that  in  these  latter  times 


ROME  CONQUERS  THE  WORLD  115 

the  lust  and  wickedness  of  our  countrymen  have  not 
penetrated  to  it." 

During  a  hundred  years  a  few  great  men  tried  to  solve 
these  problems  of  Rome.     Of  them  all,  Caesar,  the  con- 
queror of  Gaul,  the  builder  of  the  new  army,  Cgesar 
was  the  greatest.     He  marched  down  out  of  Begins  a 
Gaul  with  his  devoted  and  well-trained  soldiers,  New  Gov- 
overthrew  the  government,  defeated  the  armies  ernment 
sent  against  him,  and  made  himself  ruler  of  the  Roman 
world.     He  was  general  of  the  army,  high  priest  of  the 
religion,  head  of  the  government. 

Immediately  he  began  to  remedy  the  abuses  from 
which  the  Roman  world  was  suffering.  He  cut  up  the 
public  lands  and  gave  them  out  to  his  old  soldiers  and 
other  needy  families.  He  began  to  give  rights  of  citizen- 
ship to  men  throughout  the  provinces.  He  cut  down  the 
terrible  taxes  that  they  had  been  forced  to  pay,  and  made 
the  people  of  Rome  pay  their  share  as  they  had  not  done 
before.  He  was  given  the  title  of  "  Father  of  his  Coun- 
try";  and  after  his  death  the  senate  declared  that  he 
had  been  received  by  the  gods  as  one  of  themselves.  A 
temple  was  built  to  the  "  Divine  Julius,"  and  a  priest  was 
appointed  to  care  for  his  altar. 

The  change  which  Caesar  had  made  in  the  government 
was  permanent.  The  Roman  republic  of  the  old  days 
was  gone  forever.  For  five  hundred  years  after  his  time 
the  world  was  ruled  by  emperors  who  built  on  the  founda- 
tions he  had  laid. 


1.  Make  a  clay  model  of  a  triumphal  arch,  of  Caesar's  camp,  of  a 
walled  town.  Build  mounds  and  movable  towers  and  battering  rams 
around  the  town.  2.  Find  pictures  of  the  Alps.  3.  Make  a  tall, 
slender  column  in  clay.  On  it  scratch  pictures  of  Roman  war  scenes. 
The  drawing  on  page  106  is  from  such  a  column  now  standing  in  Rome. 
It  was  built  by  the  emperor  Trajan  in  honor  of  his  victories. 


fn6] 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE 
How  Rome  Ruled  the  World 

In  the  government  that  the  Roman  emperors  created 
one  man  was  ruler.  He  was  thought  divine,  the  suc- 
cessor to  the  "  Divine  Julius."  He  lived  in  a 
great  palace  that  covered  acres  of  ground.  He  £m  ^ 
dressed  in  a  purple  robe,  wore  a  crown,  and 
carried  a  scepter.  His  will  was  all-powerful.  But  he 
could  not  do  all  the  work  necessary  in  ruling  the  world. 
These  absolute  emperors  organized  a  body  of  helpers. 
They  appointed  tax  collectors,  treasurers,  governors  of 
provinces,  judges,  generals.  The  officers  of  the  second 
rank  reported  to  those  of  the  first  rank,  and  officers  of 
.the  third  rank  to  those  of  the  second.  Through  the  chief 
officials  the  emperor  heard  of  the  doings  of  all  the  under- 
lings and  visited  praise  or  blame  upon  them.  It  was  a 
successful  way  for  one  man  to  control  the  doing  of  busi- 
ness too  large  for  one  alone  to  carry  on.  The  empire 
was  much  better  ruled  than  in  the  old  republican  days 
when  governors  and  tax  collectors  had  been  responsible 
to  nobody. 

That  empire  was  practically  the  world.     It  stretched 
northward  to  the  safe  boundary  of  the  wide  Size  of  ^e 
Rhine  'and  Danube  rivers,  and  even  the  far  Empire, 
northern    island    of    Britain    belonged    to   it.  85A-D- 
Eastward  Rome  had  all  Asia  Minor  and  a  narrow  strip 
of  seacoast  besides.      At  the  south  she  had  Egypt  and 

117 


Ii8  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

a  fringe  along  all  Africa,  stretching  back  to  the  desert. 
She  owned,  moreover,  all  the  many  islands  of  the  sea. 

The  most  northern  point  of  Roman  Britain  was  more 
than  two  thousand  miles  north  of  the  most  southern 
point  of  Roman  Egypt,  and  from  the  farthest  western 
point  in  Spain  to  the  farthest  eastern  point  of  Asia  Minor 
was  about  three  thousand  miles.  Even  the  swift  ships 
of  our  time  need  about  five  days  to  travel  the  length  of  the 
Mediterranean,  and  in  ancient  times  sailing  vessels  in 
the  best  of  weather  took  about  eighteen  days. 

There  were  a  hundred  races  or  more  in  that  empire. 
To-day  there  are  packed  into  that  old  territory  twenty 
countries  or  districts :  England,  Spain,  Portugal,  France, 
Belgium,  Switzerland,  Austria,  Italy,  Albania,  Monte- 
negro, Servia,  Rumania,  Bulgaria,  Greece,  Turkey,  Egypt, 
Tripoli,  Algeria,  Morocco,  Tunis,  besides  little  slices  of 
four  or  five  others. 

Yet  in  spite  of  the  great  size  and  the  variety  of  races, 
Rome  governed  the  empire  well.  The  civilized  peoples  of 
the  East  kept  their  old  habits,  prospered,  and  were  more 
or  less  content.  The  new  peoples  of  the  West  were* 
taught  civilized  ways  and  rapidly  changed  their  manners. 

In  58  B.C.  Caesar  had  found  Gaul  a  country  of  wild 
forests.  There  had  been  no  vineyards ;  few  grain-fields ; 
The  Work  ^ew  bridges,  but  only  fords  across  the  rivers; 
of  Civiliza-  few  walled  towns,  but,  rather,  straggling  vil- 
tionin  lages ;  human  beings  sacrificed  to  the  gods. 
Caesar  seems  to  have  had  the  same  feeling  of 
curiosity  and  condescending  admiration  for  the  people 
that  we  had  for  Indians. 

Four  hundred  years  later,  however,  the  descendants  of 
these  half -civilized  Gauls  were  Roman  gentlemen.  They 
had  houses  of  thirty  rooms  with  carved  furniture  and 
marble  statues  and  libraries  of  Greek  and  Latin  books. 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE 


119 


In  their  courtyards  cool  fountains  played,  the  water 
brought  from  mountain  springs  through  great  aqueducts 
of  stone.  There  were  gardens  where  the  daintiest  fruits 
and  vegetables  grew.  Hundreds  of  slaves  tilled  the 
fields,  pressed  the  grapes  into  wine,  groomed  the  fine 


The  Cold  Plunge  in  a  Roman  Bath-house 
A  modern  reconstruction  from  ancient  ruins 

horses,  trained  the  hunting  dogs,  helped  their  masters  to 
dress  and  undress,  shaved  their  faces,  and  perfumed  their 
hair. 

There  were  walled  cities  like  those  of  Greece  and  Italy, 
with  stone  theaters  where  the  Gauls  went  to  see  Roman 
and  Greek  plays.  In  the  cities  were  huge  bath-houses 
where  a  gentleman  could  spend  his  day,  now  in  the  warm 
bath,  now  in  the  cold,  sometimes .  taking  a  sweat  in  the 
hot  room  and  again  swimming  in  the  tank  or  playing  ball 
or  tennis  in  the  open  court,  or  perhaps  lounging  on  the 
benches  and  reading  his  Greek  verses  to  listening  friends. 


120  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

All  these  fine  gentlemen  spoke  Latin  like  their  friends  in 
Rome,  and  even  the  uneducated  people  tried  to  speak  it, 
though  they  spoiled  the  pronunciation  and  mixed  Latin 
and  Gallic  words. 

What  had  happened  in  Gaul  had  happened  in  Spain,  also ; 
she  had  become  as  Roman  as  Rome  herself.  Even  to-day 
we  call  the  French,  the  Spanish  and  the  Portuguese,  as 
well  as  the  Italians,  Romance  peoples,  because  they  have 
always  kept  the  mark  of  their  early  Roman  education. 

But  even  as  far  north  as  Britain,  the  Romans  left  their 

signs.     Many  an  English  farmer  in  our  time,  in  digging 

or  plowing  a  field,  has  come  upon  strange  gold 

In  Britain  .         ,         .         ^      £  j-  ,  u 

coins  bearing  the  face  and  name  of  an  old 
Roman  emperor.  Or  he  has  found  a  little  vase  of  clay 
or  bronze,  tight  sealed,  and  upon  opening  it  has  seen  a 
handful  of  dust,  the  ashes  of  some  Roman  soldier,  per- 
haps, who  lived  and  died  and  was  burned  on  the  funeral 
pyre  fifteen  hundred  years  ago.  Or  he  has  wondered 
at  the  low,  grassy  ridge  that  runs  so  straight  across  his 
field,  not  knowing  that  it  is  the  earth  wall  of  an  old 
Roman  camp. 

Caesar,  who  twice  led  his  army  into  Britain  during  his 
Gallic  war,  says  that  in  his  time  no  one  but  merchants 
visited  that  distant  island.  "Most  of  the  inland  inhabit- 
ants," he  says,  "do  not  sow  corn,  but  five  on  milk  and 
flesh  and  are  clad  in  skins.  All  the  Britons,  indeed,  dye 
themselves  with  wood  which  makes  a  bluish  color,  and 
thereby  they  have  a  more  terrible  appearance  in  fight." 
This  sounds  like  a  description  of  tattooed  savages. 

But  in  85  a.d.  the  Romans  conquered  Britain  after  a 
war  bloodier  and  much  longer  than  the  Gallic  war,  and 
Tacitus,  a  Roman  historian,  tells  how  Agricola,  the 
Roman  general  who  finished  the  conquest,  set  about 
Romanizing  the  country  when  the  war  was  ended. 


THE   ROMAN  EMPIRE  121 

He  encouraged  the  natives  "to  build  temples,  courts  of 
justice,  and  commodious  dwelling  houses.  ...  To  es- 
tablish a  plan  of  education,  and  give  the  sons  of  the 
leading  chiefs  a  tincture  of  letters,  was  part  of  his 
policy.  .  .  .  The  consequence  was,  that  they  who  had 
always  disdained  the  Roman  language  began  to  culti- 
vate its  beauties.  The  Roman  apparel  was  seen  without 
prejudice,  and  the  toga  became  a  fashionable  part  of 
dress." 

Fifty  years  after  Agricola's  time  the  emperor  Hadrian 
visited  Britain.  He  found  fifty  towns  built  like  Roman 
towns,  with  walls  around  them  and  comfortable  houses 
inside  them  like  Roman  houses.  He  could  go  easily  from 
town  to  town  with  his  guards,  for  good  roads  crossed  the 
country  to  and  fro.  He  found  the  towns  busy  with 
manufacture.  Perhaps  there  was  a  pottery  or  a  glass 
shop  or  a  mine  of  lead  or  iron. 

In  some  cities  he  visited  bath-houses  like  those  great 
buildings  in  Rome  and  Gaul  with  hot  and  cold  rooms 
and  swimming  pools  filled  by  mineral  springs.  He 
visited  country  houses  almost  as  fine  as  those  in  the  hills 
near  Rome.  In  the  .dining  rooms  he  saw  floors  of  mosaic 
with  pictures  of  the  Roman  gods,  with  benches  like  those 
at  Rome.  There  he  presided  at  banquets  where  food 
was  brought  on  in  silver  dishes  sent  from  Rome,  where 
guests  sang  Roman  verses  and  talked  in  the  Roman 
language. 

He  saw  neat  farms  along  the  road  with  growing  wheat 
and  barley  and  grazing  cattle.  He  found  his  four  Roman 
legions  camped  among  peaceful  people.  Some  of  the 
soldiers  had  married  British  women  and  were  working 
little  fields  outside  of  the  camp  or  keeping  shops  in  the 
village  that  had  grown  up  around  it. 

Between  Britain  and  Caledonia  (that  is,  between  Eng- 


122 


THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 


land  and  Scotland)  he  found  a  line  of  camps  that  Agricola 
had  built,  with  a  road  running  from  one  to  another. 
Here  the  emperor  made  a  wall  eighty  miles  long,  with 
watch-towers  looking  toward  the  north,  with  camps  of 
Roman  soldiers  to  keep  out  the  barbarians  of  Caledonia 
from  Roman  Britain. 

And  so  Roman  speech,  Roman  books,  Roman  laws, 
Roman  dress,  Roman  ways  of  building,  spread  over  most 
of  the  world.  "  Wherever  I  go,"  says  a  Roman  citizen 
about  400  a.d.,  "  I  find  my  fatherland.     I  come  as  a  Ro- 


Wax  Tablet 


Inkhorn 


Scroll  or  Book 


man  among  Romans."  And  that  Roman  citizen  was  a 
Spaniard.  To-day  travelers  can  see  the  ruins  of  a  Roman 
wall  on  the  edge  of  Scotland,  of  a  Roman  bath  in  Eng- 
land, of  a  Roman  theater  in  France,  of  Roman  camps 
on  the  German  Rhine,  of  a  Roman  bridge  across  the 
Danube  in  Rumania,  of  a  Roman  forum  in  Athens,  of 
a  Roman  temple  in  Algiers.  How  did  the  Romans  do 
this  Romanizing? 

One  of  the  first  things  they  always  did  after  they 
had  conquered  a  country  was  to  build  roads. 
They  laid  them  out  straight,  through  marshes, 
over  hills,   across  rivers.      So  well  were  they 
built  that  to-day  the  people  of  England,  France,  Germany, 


Roman 
Roads 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE 


123 


Spain,  and  Italy  are  still  driving  over  them.     In  a  few 

places  you  can  walk  on  the  very  paving  stones  that 

Roman  hands  laid  down  almost  two  thousand  years  ago. 

First  the  builders  packed  the  ground  hard,  then  put 


Part  of  a  Roman  Map  of  the  World 

The  emperor  at  Rome  sits  in  the  middle  of  the  world,  and  all  roads  lead  to  him. 

Notice  the  harbor  of  Ostia,  near  Rome,  with  a  lighthouse.     The  map  shows 

long,  narrow  Italy,  with  the  seas  at  the  sides.     The  top  of  the  map  is  northeast, 

the  bottom  is  southwest 


down  a  thick  layer  of  cobblestones,  on  top  of  that  broken 
stones  and  lime,  and  above  that  a  bedding  of  fine  cement. 
Then  on  the  important  roads  they  put,  on  top  of  all 
that,  a  pavement  of  stone  blocks  fitted  close.  The  road 
top  curved  from  the  center  to  side  gutters  or  toward  the 


124  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

middle  to  a  center  drain.  It  must  have  cost  many  hun- 
dreds of  dollars  to  build  every  mile  of  road,  and  must 
have  needed  great  numbers  of  men  working  for  many 
weeks,  hauling  cobblestone,  crushing  rock,  making  cement, 
squaring  blocks. 

When  these  roads  were  once  made,  they  were  kept  in 
good  condition.  The  emperors  appointed  officers  to  be 
in  charge  of  them,  to  inspect  them  often,  to  hire  con- 
tractors to  make  repairs,  to  collect  taxes  for  the  work 
from  the  landowners  along  the  way.  So  important  were 
the  roads  that  the  great  officers  and  nobles  and  even 
the  emperors  of  Rome  were  proud  to  give  them  their 
names.  Thus  we  have  in  Italy  the  Appian  Way,  the 
iEmilian  Way,  the  Julian  Way,  the  Flavian  Way,  the 
Claudian  Way,  the  Flaminian  Way,  named  for  the  great 
men  who  first  built  them  or  later  repaired  them. 

Nor  were  these  roads  few  and  far  apart.  From  the 
thirty-seven  gates  in  the  Roman  city  wall,  roads  branched 
off  in  all  directions.  They  were  almost  as  many  as  the 
railroads  of  to-day,  crossing  and  meeting  in  the  same 
way,  covering  the  whole  empire  as  with  a  spider's  web. 
The  center  of  that  web  was  Rome,  so  that  the  saying 
grew  up,  "All  roads  lead  to  Rome."  In  one  of  the 
forums  of  the  city,  the  emperor  Augustus  set  up  a  golden 
milestone  with  the  names  of  the  greatest  cities  of  the  whole 
empire  carved  upon  it,  with  their  distances  from  Rome. 

A  man  could  start  from  the  Roman  wall  in  the  north 
of  modern  England  and  drive  in  a  wheeled  carriage 
through  the  cities  of  York  and  London  to  Sandwich  on 
the  southeastern  coast.  Then  he  could  cross  by  boat 
the  narrow  English  channel  to  what  is  now  Boulogne  in 
France.  Here  he  would  find  a  road  again  leading  south- 
ward through  Lyons  and  across  the  steep  Alps.  From 
here  it  went  on  through  long  Italy,  through  Milan  and 


THE   ROMAN  EMPIRE  125 

the  heart  of  Rome,  past  the  golden  milestone  to  Brindisi 
down  in  the  southeastern  corner. 

Here  the  traveler  would  have  to  take  ship  again  and 
cross  the  Adriatic  to  modern  Durazzo.  From  there  a 
great  road  would  lead  him  eastward  to  Constantinople. 
He  would  cross  the  narrow  Bosporus  by  boat,  would 
land  and  continue  southward  across  rich  Asia  Minor, 
passing  through  many  old  cities,  following  the  coast 
through  ancient  Phoenicia,  and  at  last,  after  many  weeks 
of  travel,  would  arrive  in  Jerusalem,  having  journeyed  on 
straight,  clean,  level  roads  for  four  thousand  miles. 

If  he  wished,  he  could  continue  on  down  the  coast, 
across  the  Isthmus  of  Suez,  across  fertile  Egypt,  and 
along  the  whole  coast  of  Africa  to  modern  Tangier  on 
the  Strait  of  Gibraltar.  There  he  would  cross  by  ship 
to  Spain  and  pass  along  the  wonderful  coast  road  back 
to  Lyons,  across  France,  across  the  channel,  and  back 
through  England  to  his  town  in  the  North,  having  made 
a  circle  around  the  Roman  world.1 

At  every  mile  of  the  way  he  would  pass  milestones  of 
marble  with  the  names  of  the  nearest  cities  carved  upon 
them  and  their  distance  from  Rome.  He  would  travel 
about  forty  miles  a  day,  though  people  sometimes  made 
a  hundred,  and  one  of  the  generals  in  hurrying  to  his  sick 
brother  in  Germany  went  two  hundred  miles  in  twenty- 
four  hours.  We  cannot  do  much  better  in  our  auto- 
mobiles to-day. 

At  the  end  of  every  day's  journey  of  forty  or  fifty 
miles  the  traveler  would  find  inns  where  he  could  get  bed 
and  meals  and  hire  horses,  if  he  needed  to  do  so.  And 
often,  as  he  sat  in  the  inn,  he  would  see  a  messenger  dash 
up  on  a  horse,  leap  off,  fling  his  saddlebags  upon  a  fresh 
horse  that  had  been  brought  out  from  the  stable,  and 

1See  map  on  page  116. 


[126] 


THE   ROMAN   EMPIRE  127 

dash  on  again.  Or  perhaps  he  would  see  the  long  line 
of  a  legion  marching  past  to  a  war,  with  heavy  baggage 
wagons  lumbering  behind.  And  always  he  would  see 
servants  carrying  their  masters'  letters,  and  merchants 
passing  with  rich  goods  on  pack  mules  or  in  wagons. 
For  along  those  great  roads  flowed  war  and  peace  and 
the  whole  life  of  the  world. 

Commerce  was  another  thing  that  held  the  empire 
together  and  taught  East  and  West  and  North  and 
South  the  ways  of  one  another.  Many  men  are 
content  with  life  so  long  as  they  are  making 
money,  and  merchants  and  manufacturers  and  ship- 
owners surely  had  a  good  chance  to  make  money  under 
the  Roman  empire.  Ever  since  Pompey  had  put  an  end 
to  the  pirates,1  the  sea  had  been  safe  for  commerce.  Every 
merchant  thanked  Rome  for  peace  and  prosperity. 

Another  thing  was  done  to  stimulate  commerce.  In 
that  day  all  cities  had  market-places  where  buying  and 
selling  was  carried  on.2  In  every  one  of  these  the 
Roman  officers  posted  up  rules  as  to  when  the  market 
should  be  opened  and  what  kind  of  money  should  be 
used.  And  in  the  market  stood  a  great  block  of  stone 
with  basins  hollowed  out  holding  the  right  amount  for 
the  different  measures  like  our  bushels  and  pecks  and 
quarts.  Any  man  who  thought  he  was  being  cheated 
by  the  merchant  from  whom  he  was  buying  could  take 
his  goods  here  and  test  the  amount.  This  enforced  honest 
selling  and  encouraged  people  all  over  the  empire  to  use 
the  same  measures. 

As  a  result  there  was  much  world-wide  trading  in  the 
empire.  Just  as  the  food  oh  our  'own  breakfast  tables 
to-day  comes  from  all  corners  of  our  country  (oranges 
from  California,  breakfast  foods  from  Niagara  Falls,  the 

1  See  page  99.  2  See  pages  43  and  80. 


128  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

wheat  in  our  muffins  from  Minneapolis,  maple  sirup  from 
Vermont,  bacon  from  Chicago),  so  a  Roman  house  was 
furnished  from  all  corners  of  the  empire.  There  were  rugs 
and  hangings  from  Asia  Minor.  Gold  and  silver  came 
from  Spain,  as  in  the  earlier  time  of  the  Greeks ;  tin  and 
lead  and  iron  from  Britain ;  vases  and  statues  and  marble 
from  Greece.  From  Alexandria  in  Egypt  came  all  the 
fine  luxuries  that  far-off  India  sent  to  the  West  —  ivory, 
tortoise  shell,  rare  cloth  of  cotton  and  silk  (for  the  earlier 
Romans  had  only  linen  and  wool),  pearls,  diamonds, 
spices,  perfumes.  The  food  on  the  table  was  from  as 
many  places.  The  wheat  from  which  the  flour  was  made 
was  from  fertile  Egypt  or  Sicily  or  the  Black  Sea  region, 
the  wine  from  the  Greek  Islands  and  from  Asia  Minor, 
oysters  from  the  Gallic  coast. 

Whether  these  goods  that  traders  handled  were  sold 
in  Gaul,  Syria,  or  Egypt,  they  were  paid  for  in  Roman 
silver,  and  everywhere  Roman  money  was  good  —  among 
the  half-civilized  Germans  who  had  no  money  of  their 
own,  and  among  refined  Greeks.  Now,  when  different 
peoples  are  using  the  same  money,  the  same  roads,  the 
same  ships,  the  same  weights  and  measures ;  are  buying 
and  selling  among  themselves ;  are  visiting  one  another's 
cities ;  and  are  feeling  protected  and  safe,  they  are  learn- 
ing from  one  another,  are  becoming  broader-minded,  are 
growing  more  alike,  and  are  rather  sure  to  be  contented 
and  peaceful  and  grateful  to  the  government  that  causes  it 
all.     So  it  was  for  most  of  the  time  in  the  Roman  empire. 

A  New  Religion  in  the  Ancient  World 

While  the  empire  had  been  growing,  another  great 
thing  had  happened  :  Christianity  had  begun.  Its  origin 
was  very  humble,  with  one  poor  man  and  a  few  of  his 
poor  friends  over  in  a  little  corner;  of  Asia  that  was  owned 


THE   ROMAN  EMPIRE  129 

by  the  Romans.     As  you  know,  that  country  was  Pales- 
tine, and  that  man  was  Jesus.     When  he  was  born,  the 
great  Augustus  was  emperor  of  Rome,  and  Rome 
governed  the  world.     That  world  had  many  re-  */|^g 
ligions.     The  Jews  worshiped  Jehovah  as  they  tianity 
had  done  in  the  days  of  David.     The  Greeks 
worshiped  Zeus  and  Apollo  and  Athene  and  the  rest  as 
they  had  done  in  the  time  of  Pericles.     The  Romans 
worshiped  Jove  and  Mars   and  the   others  as  they  had 
done  since  early  times.     Egypt  had  gods  of  her  own  — 
gods  whose  statues  had  heads  of  birds  or  beasts.     The 
German  tribes  adored  Woden  and  Thor  and  their  com- 
panions.    Some   of  these   gods  were  good   and  gentle, 
others  were  fierce  and  jealous  and  given  to  fits  of  anger. 

Christ  taught  an  idea  new  to  most  peoples  —  that  there 
is  but  one  God  for  all  the  world  and  that  He  is  the  God  of 
love,  the  Father  of  His  people.  Christ's  followers,  look- 
ing at  all  the  heathen  gods,  thought  them  foolish  and 
wicked,  and  pitied  the  people  who  worshiped  them.  Be- 
sides this,  Christianity  promised  more  after  death  than 
did  any  other  religion.  According  to  the  Greek  and 
Roman  worship  the  land  of  the  dead  was  only  a  beauti- 
ful meadow  where  phantom  people  lived  phantom  lives 
and  longed  for  news  of  their  old  beloved  world.  Among 
the  Germans  it  was  only  warriors  that  died  in  battle 
who  gained  happiness  after  death.  They  would  lead  a 
life  of  constant  feasting  and  fighting  in  the  presence  of 
the  gods.  Christianity  pictured  a  gentler,  fairer  heaven 
for  the  righteous  after  death. 

Here  is  a  description  of  the  walled  city  where  they  were 
to  live  :  "  And  the  twelve  gates  were  twelve  pearls  :  every 
several  gate  was  of  one  pearl :  and  the  street  of  the  city 
was  pure  gold,  as  it  were  transparent  glass.  .  .  .  And  the 
city  had  no  need  of  the  sun,  neither  of  the  moon,  to  shine 


130  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

in  it :  for  the  glory  of  God  did  lighten  it,  and  the  Lamb 
is  the  light  thereof.  And  the  nations  of  them  which  are 
saved  shall  walk  in  the  light  of  it :  and  the  kings  of  the 
earth  do  bring  glory  and  honor  into  it."  Instead  of  the 
warlike  heaven  of  the  Germans,  Christianity  promised 
peace  and  love  and  gladness.  "And  God  shall  wipe 
away  all  tears  from  their  eyes,"  says  the  Bible.  "And 
there  shall  be  no  more  death,  neither  sorrow,  nor  crying, 
neither  shall  there  be  any  more  pain :  for  the  former 
things  are  passed  away." 

Christians  were  excited  by  their  new  religion,  by  its 
beauty  and  wonder,  and  they  were  eager  to  teach  it  to 
other  people.  So  the  most  earnest  of  them  went  about 
from  town  to  town  of  Palestine  preaching  to  their  fellow 
Jews  and  saying,  "Repent  ye  and  be  converted."  They 
had  some  success  and  gained  new  converts. 

Soon  they  began  to  travel  farther,  to  the  cities  of  Asia 
Minor  and  to  the  islands*  of  the  iEgean.  Here  they 
preached  not  only  to  Jews,  but  to  the  Greeks  and  Romans 
who  lived  there.  At  last  Paul,  the  greatest  preacher  of 
them  all,  crossed  over  to  Greece.  He  preached  in  Mace- 
don,  Alexander's  old  country.  He  preached  in  Athens, 
under  the  very  shadow  of  Athene's  temple.     In 

ission-  Corinth  he  lived  and  taught  for  a  year  and  a 
half.  Meantime  other  Christians  were  visiting 
other  cities.  And  as  "all  roads  led  to  Rome,"  the  very 
center  of  the  world,  Christians  soon  found  their  way 
there.  In  many  places  people  listened  to  the  new  teach- 
ing, left  their  old  gods,  and  became  Christians. 

Because  they  were  few  in  the  midst  of  other  religions, 
and  because  they  were  much  in  earnest  about  their  new 
doctrine,  these  early  Christians  felt  themselves  held  fast 
together  by  a  strong  tie  of  brotherhood.  They  had  fre- 
quent meetings  in  their  houses  for  preaching  and  prayer. 


THE   ROMAN  EMPIRE  131 

Moreover,  since  they  were  brothers,  they  felt  that  they 
must  share  their  goods  and  clothes  and  wealth  with  one 
another.  "  Neither  was  there  any  among  them  that 
lacked,  for  as  many  as  were  possessors  of  lands  and 
houses  sold  them,  and  brought  the  prices  of  the  things 
that  were  sold,  and  laid  them  down  at  the  apostles'  feet : 
and  distribution  was  made  to  every  man  according  as  he  had 
need."  So  says  the  book  of  Acts,  in  the  Christian  Bible. 
Officers  were  appointed  to  take  care  of  this  money  and  to 
attend  to  the  distributing  of  it  to  orphans  and  widows 
and  to  serve  at  the  tables  when  the  brethren  ate  together. 

Other  members  were  chosen  to  teach  or  to  preach. 
They  wrote  letters  of  encouragement  and  advice  to  the 
churches  that  were  being  formed  here  and  there.  They 
went  about  from  town  to  town  visiting  their  brethren. 
In  the  market-places  or  on  the  temple  steps  they  preached 
to  any  who  would  listen.  Sometimes  the  audience  was 
interested,  sometimes  it  was  angered  and  was  ready  to 
fight  for  its  old  gods  with  these  men  who  spoke  against 
them.  Stephen  was  stoned  to  death  by  an  angry  mob, 
and  Paul  was  more  than  once  arrested  and  put  into  prison. 

But  the  Christians  were  ready  to  suffer  for  their  re- 
ligion, and  they  kept  on  worshiping  and  preaching. 
Soon  they  were  so  numerous  that  they  built  large  stone 
churches  for  their  meetings,  and  each  church  had  priests 
to  preach  and  read  the  prayers.  The  bishops 
who  had  charge  of  church  affairs  wore  beautiful  Growth 

of  the  New 

white  robes  and  embroidered  stoles  and  needed  Reiigi0n 
secretaries  and  servants  to  help  them  attend  to 
their  business.  Christianity  had  begun  among  the  humble 
folk,  —  fishermen,  carpenters,  tentmakers,  —  but  within 
two  hundred  years  many  of  the  great  people  of  the  world 
adopted  the  new  religion, — learned  scholars,  Roman 
nobles,  officers,  and  relatives  of  the  emperor.     They  were 


132  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

scattered  all  over  the  empire,  from  Spain  to  Asia  Minor, 
from  rich  Africa  to  wild  Germany.  A  great  Christian 
writer  two  hundred  years  after  Christ  says  :  "  We  are  but 
of  yesterday,  and  yet  we  already  fill  your  cities,  islands, 
camps,  your  palace,  senate,  and  forum." 

Yet  to  be  a  Christian  was  contrary  to  law.     Moreover, 

Roman  officers   and  Roman  soldiers  were  required  to 

sacrifice  to  Jupiter  and  the  twelve  gods  and  to 

nstian  worship  the  emperor.  Some  Christians  were 
willing  to  go  through  these  sacrifices  and  prayers 
with  their  hands  and  their  mouths,  while  they  felt  that 
they  kept  their  hearts  clean  for  God.  But  most  of  them 
refused  to  sacrifice  or  to  pray  to  any  god  but  their  own. 
Generally  Roman  officers  overlooked  this  disobedience. 
For  after  all,  in  other  ways  Christians  were  good  citizens. 
They  kept  the  laws  and  paid  their  taxes.  Moreover,  the 
Romans  were  not  very  much  in  earnest  about  their  re- 
ligion. Most  of  them  thought  that  people  should  be 
allowed  to  choose  their  favorite  gods  from  all  those  in 
the  world,  and  for  many  years  before  Christ,  Romans 
had  imported  new  gods  from  Egypt  or  Persia.  So  in 
spite  of  the  laws  against  them,  the  Christians  grew  in 
number  and  strength  and  wealth. 

Yet  now  and  then  an  emperor  came  to  the  throne  who 
thought  it  best  to  punish  the  followers  of  the  new  religion, 
for  refusing  to  serve  in  the  Roman  army  or  for  saying 
that  they  were  not  subjects  of  the  emperor  but  of  a  greater 
king.  Eusebius,  a  Christian  writer  about  three  hundred 
years  after  Christ,  gives  this  story  of  Apphianus,  one  of 
the  early  martyrs  in  Africa : 

An  order  had  been  given  "that  all  persons  everywhere 
should  publicly  offer  sacrifice,  and  that  the  rulers  of  the 
cities  should  see  to  this  with  all  care  and  diligence.  The 
heralds   were  proclaiming  .  .  .  that   men,   women,  and 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE  133 

children  should  come  to  the  temples  of  the  idols  at  the 
command  of  the  governor.  Moreover  the  miUtary  trib- 
unes were  calling  upon  each  one  by  name,  from  a  list, 
and  the  heathen  were  rushing  in  an  immense  crowd 
from  every  quarter.  This  youth,  [Apphianus,]  fearlessly 
and  without  imparting  his  purpose  to  any,  stealing  away 
from  us  who  dwelt  in  the  same  house,  and  unobserved 
by  the  military  band  around  the  governor,  approached 
Urbanus  [the  governor],  who  happened  then  to  be  mak- 
ing libations.  Fearlessly  seizing  his  right  hand,  Apphianus 
suddenly  interrupted  him  in  the  act  of  sacrificing.  Then 
he  counseled  and  exhorted  him  in  a  solemn  and  serious 
tone  to  abandon  his  error,  saying  it  was  not  right  we 
should  desert  the  only  one  and  true  god  to  sacrifice  to 
idols  and  demons.  .  .  . 

"He  was  immediately  seized  and  torn  by  the  soldiers 
like  ravenous  beasts,  and  after  suffering  most  heroically 
innumerable  stripes  on  his  whole  body,  was  cast  into 
prison  until  further  orders.  There,  being  stretched  by  the 
tormentors  with  both  feet,  a  night  and  a  day,  on  the  rack, 
he  was  the  next  day  brought  to  the  judge.  When  force 
was  applied  to  make  him  sacrifice,  he  showed  an  uncon- 
querable courage  in  bearing  pain  and  horrid  tortures. 
[His  sides  were  cut,  his  face  was  beaten,  his  feet  were 
burned.]  .  .  .  But  as  he  did  not  yield  even  to  this,  .  .  . 
he  was  again  cast  into  prison.  At  last  he  was  summoned 
the  third  day  before  the  judge  again,  and  still  declaring 
his  fixed  purpose  in  the  profession  of  Christ,  already  half 
dead,  he  was  thrown  into  the  sea  and  drowned." 

If  men  were  willing  to  suffer  like  this  for  the  Christian 
religion,  is  it  any  wonder  that  people  admired  them  and 
said:  "There  must  be  something  good  in  this  religion 
that  men  love  better  than  life.  We  must  find  out  about 
it."     Weak  people,  of  course,  were  frightened  away  from 


134 


THE   ANCIENT  WORLD 


An 

Emperor 
Becomes 
a  Christian 


the  church,  but  many  of  the  braver  sort  were  won  by  such 
courageous,  joyful,  loving  martyrdom.  One  of  the  Chris- 
tian writers,  crying  out  to  the  Roman  persecutors,  says : 
"  Go  on,  rack,  torture,  grind  us  to  powder ;  our  numbers 
increase  in  proportion  as  ye  mow  us 
down.  The  blood  of  Christians  is 
their  harvest  seed." 

That  seed,  the  blood  of  the  mar- 
tyrs, was  sown  all  over  the  empire, 
in  Gaul,  in  Africa,  in  Italy, 
in    Palestine,    in    Greece. 
And    there    did,    indeed, 
spring  up   from   it    great 
harvests   for   Christianity,    so   that 
there  were  millions  of  Christians  in 
the  Roman  world. 

At  last  even  an  emperor  became 
one  of  them.  That  emperor  was 
Constantine  the  Great.  Eusebius 
tells  this  marvelous  story  of  a  vision 
that  Constantine  had  during  a  war : 
"He  said  that  about  midday  when 
the  sun  was  beginning  to  decline,  he 
saw  with  his  own  eyes  the  trophy 
of  a  cross  of  light  in  the  heavens  above  the  sun,  and  bearing 
the  inscription,  '  Conquer  by  this.'  At  this  sight  he  him- 
self was  struck  with  amazement,  and  his  whole  army  also 
which  happened  to  be  following  him  on  some  expedition  and 
witnessed  the  miracle.  He  said,  moreover,  that  he  doubted 
within  himself  what  the  meaning  of  this  apparition  could  be. 
And  while  he  continued  to  ponder  and  reason  on  its  mean- 
ing, night  imperceptibly  drew  on;  and  in  his  sleep  the 
Christ  of  God  appeared  to  him  with  the  same  sign  which  he 
had  seen  in  the  heavens,  and  commanded  him  to  procure  a 


A  Statue  of  the  Em- 
peror Constantine 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE  135 

standard  made- in  the  likeness  of  that  sign  and  to  use  it 
as  a  safe-guard  in  all  engagements  with  his  enemies.  At 
dawn  of  day  he  arose  and  communicated  his  secret  to  his 
friends,  and  then  calling  together  the  workers  in  gold  and 
precious  stones,  he  sat  in  the  midst  of  them  and  described 
to  them  the  figure  of  the  sign  he  had  seen,  bidding  them 
represent  it  in  gold  and  precious  stones." 

Whether  this  miracle  happened  or  not,  Constantine 
did  carry  the  standard  of  the  Christian  cross  in  his  battles, 
and  he  and  his  soldiers  did  have  the  sign  of  the  cross 
marked  on  their  helmets  and  breastplates.  After  several 
years  he  was  baptized  into  the  Christian  church,  and  even 
before  that,  as  soon  as  he  was  emperor,  he  gave  Chris- 
tians the  right  to  worship  according  to  their  religion. 
Moreover,  he  restored  to  them  lands  and  money  which 
had  been  taken  from  them,  and  himself  built  churches 
in  honor  of  God.  When  the  emperor  was  a  Christian, 
when  the  laws  no  longer  made  it  a  crime  to  be 
a  Christian,  thousands  of  people  began  to  flock  into 
the  church.  Stories  say  that  in  one  year,  at  Rome 
alone,  twelve  thousand  men,  besides  women  and  chil- 
dren, were  baptized.  Christianity  had  become  the  re- 
ligion of  the  empire. 

Results  of  Roman  Rule 

Rome  had  ruled  the  world  for  four  hundred  years  or 
more.     For  four  hundred  years  the  peoples  of  the  world 
had,  generally  speaking,  used  the  same  money, 
traveled  the  same  roads,  spoken  the  same  Ian-  Central- 
guage,   obeyed  the  same  law.     They  had  all  ^LnenT" 
faced  toward  one  city,  had  looked  up  to  one 
man.     Alexander  had  dreamed  of  a  world  empire ;  Rome 
had  realized  that  dream.     This  long  unity  made  a  per- 
manent mark  upon  the  earth.     Men  have  never  since 


136  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

lost  the  idea  of  a  unified  world.  You  will  find  people  in 
the  Middle  Ages  trying  to  revive  just  such  an  empire  as 
Rome  had  created.  In  much  later  times  Napoleon  made 
the  same  attempt. 

Rome  not  only  made  a  great  empire ;  she  changed  the 
peoples  of  it,  made  them  all  more  or  less  alike.  The 
Generous  United  States  has  been  called  a  melting  pot, 
Attitude  where  all  the  races  of  the  world  are  thrown 
toward  together,  melted  over  a  fire  of  education  and 
oreigners  free(j0m,  an(j  recast  into  Americans.  But  long 
before  our  time  Rome  was  also  a  melting  pot  of  nations. 
The  little  city-states  of  Greece  had  always  scorned  for- 
eigners, had  never  given  them  the  right  to  hold  office  or 
to  vote,  had  even  shut  them  out  of  the  religious  festivals, 
and  had  made  separate  laws  for  them.  In  the  Roman 
empire,  on  the  other  hand,  all  freemen  were  equal :  Gauls 
and  Germans  belonged  to  the  senate,  Spaniards  and 
Arabs  sat  on  the  imperial  throne.  Without  knowing  it, 
perhaps,  every  country  of  western  Europe  has  followed 
this  Roman  example,  has  generally  made  friends  with 
the  conquered  or  the  conquerors,  accepted  them  as  citi- 
zens, and  intermarried  with  them.  The  result  is  that  not 
a  nation  of  Europe  is  of  unmixed  blood,  as  the  Greeks 
boasted  themselves  to  be.  The  modern  man,  with  this 
mixed  blood  in  his  veins,  boasts,  not  of  his  exclusiveness, 
but  of  his  liberality  and  broad-mindedness  toward  nations 
and  races. 

There  were  two  things  about  Roman  government  which 
had  a  deep  influence  upon  Europe.  One  was  the  idea  of 
an  absolute  ruler.  Kings  of  later  times  never 
^£e  allowed  their  people  to  forget  the  old  Roman 

Ruler  ru^e?  "The  pleasure  of  the  prince  has  the  force 

of  law."  Only  in  modern  times  have  we  been 
able  to  put  that  idea  aside  and  to  set  law  above  the  ruler. 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE  137 

The  other  idea  of  government  that  the  Middle  Ages 
took  over  from  the  Romans  was  that  of  organizing  a 
body  of  king's  helpers,  rank  below  rank,  and 
all  responsible  to  the  king.1    Every  state  of  Eu-  H  ,g  s 
rope  and  America   and   every  great   business 
firm  now  does  its  work  in  this  way.     The  plan  was  made 
for  us  by  the  Romans,  and  from  them  we  have  inherited  it. 

The  people  of  Rome  were  very  unlike  their  teachers, 
the  Greeks.     They  were  not  artistic,  imaginative,  emo- 
tional.    Rather  they  had  the  minds  of  lawyers. 
It  was  a  Roman  habit  to  obey  law.     The  Roman     oman 
way  of  doing  anything  was  the  legal  way.     Let 
one  example  illustrate.     For  two  hundred    years,    you 
remember,  the  plebeians  fought  for  equal  rights  with  the 
patricians.2    But   how   did   they  fight?     Not  with   the 
sword,  but  with  laws.     Slowly,  step  by  step,  like  a  horse 
pulling  a  heavy  load  uphill,  they  advanced,  never  break- 
ing an  old  law,  but  doggedly  persuading  the  patricians 
to  pass  new  ones  granting  this  little  right,  that  little 
privilege,  until  at  last  they  had  them  all.     That  was  the 
Roman  way. 

Such  a  law-loving  people  would  make  a  great  mass  of 
laws  and  would  be  proud  of  them.  The  orator.  Cicero 
said  that  the  laws  of  all  other  nations,  especially  of  the 
Greeks,  seemed  to  him  ridiculous  when  compared  with 
the  Roman  law.  Doubtless  many  a  Roman  at  one  time 
or  another  might  have  said  something  like  this:  "We 
have  many  laws  here  in  Rome.  There  is  hardly  any 
action  of  a  man  toward  his  neighbor  that  is  not  covered 
by  some  law.  And  yet  tl\ey  are  all  so  just  and  so  natural 
that  they  never  surprise  us.  We  look  upon  them  as 
upon  the  wise  words  of  our  father.  They  guide  us  in  our 
daily  lives.     It  is  very  different  in  Greece :   men  hardly 

1  See  page  117.  2  See  page  84. 


138  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD 

know  what  their  laws  are,  and  so  they  have  to  walk 
without  a  guide.  I  have  heard  Greeks  say  :  -  What  need 
of  laws?  We  Greeks  can  argue  things  through  without 
them.'  I  once  saw  a  case  being  tried  in  a  Greek  court, 
and  I  was  reminded  of  a  group  of  boys  quarreling  over  a 
ball  game :  no  one  of  them  knows  the  rules,  or  they  all 
have  different  rules,  or  half  of  them  think  the  rules  are 
bad  and  therefore  will  not  obey  them.  And  the  family 
of  the  man  on  trial  were  in  court,  weeping,  and  begging 
the  judges  for  mercy  in  spite  of  the  laws.  A  JJoman 
would  never  do  so  childish  a  thing.  He  would  have  too 
much  respect  for  the  law." 

The  Romans  studied  their  laws  as  no  people  before 
them  had  ever  done.  Great  lawyers  gave  lectures  upon 
them  and  wrote  books  about  them.  At  last  the  emperor 
Justinian  had  capable  men  collect  all  written  laws,  all 
lawyers'  opinions  that  had  been  written,  all  the  decisions  of 
judges  in  the  courts,  all  the  unwritten  customs  that  people 
usually  followed  in  making  contracts  and  in 
529-534  doing  business.  All  these  laws  and  practices 
they  compared,  sorted,  put  in  order,  restated 
clearly,  and  wrote  in  books.  Besides  that,  they  wrote 
explanations  of  the  reasons  and  meaning  of  law.  All  this 
made  Roman  law  very  fixed  and  clear,  and  although  the 
empire  fell,  yet  these  books  have  remained  down  to  the 
present  day.  Through  the  Middle  Ages  in  the  univer- 
sities young  men  studied  them,  and  in  church  and  state 
people  lived  according  to  Roman  law.  To-day  the  law  of 
Italy,  Spain,  France,  Germany,  is  Roman,  brought  down 
through  the  Middle  Ages  from  far-off  Rome.  If  an  old 
Roman  lawyer  should  return  to  earth  and  walk  into  an 
Italian  court,  he  would  feel  much  at  home  and  might 
almost  sit  as  judge. 

Of  course  Rome  left  us  her  roads,  her  ruined  buildings, 


THE   ROMAN  EMPIRE  139 

and  some  of  her  great  books ;  but  more  important  than 
these  are  the  less  material  things  that  she  gave  the  world 
—  the  idea  of  an  absolute  ruler,  organized  and  centralized 
government,  generous  adoption  of  foreigners,  her  law, 
and  the  habit  of  obeying  law. 


1.  The  Greeks  loved  beauty ;  the  Romans  loved  law.  Greece  was 
divided ;  Italy  was  united.  Make  more  sentences  of  this  sort,  con- 
trasting the  Greeks  and  Romans.  2.  Greeks  wore  shawl-like  cloaks ; 
so  did  the  Romans.  Greeks  had  low,  flat-roofed  houses ;  so  did  the 
Romans.  Make  other  sentences  stating  the  likenesses  of  Greeks  and 
Romans.  3.  Draw  silhouettes  of  scenes  on  a  Roman  road  as  the 
Greek  vase-painter  would  have  made  them.  (See  cut  on  page  33.) 
4.  Look  up  the  following  words  in  a  large  dictionary  and  see  what 
language  they  come  from  and  what  they  meant  in  that  language; 
annual,  army,  century,  governor,  judge,  language,  legal,  legislature, 
military,  senate. 


PART   II.     THE  NEWER   NATIONS 

CHAPTER  VII 

THE  BARBARIAN   CONQUERORS 

The  great  Roman  empire,  the  civilizer  of  the  West, 

was  not  to  stand  forever.     Many  things  were  helping  to 

bring  about  its  end,  but  perhaps  the  greatest 

Rome  and    wreckers   0f   au   were   the   barbarians   of   the 

the  Bar- 
barians       North.     From  a  day  in  early  times  when  the 

Gauls  had  swept  into  Italy  and  had  burned 
Rome,  she  had  never  been  quite  free  from  the  fear  of 
barbarians.  She  had  met  them  over  and  over  again, 
sometimes  inside  her  own  territory,  sometimes  outside  of 
it.  For  hundreds  of  years  she  had  been  successful 
against  them.  The  Gauls,  as  you  know,  she  had  con- 
quered 1  and  had  made  a  part  of  her  great  family,  teach- 
ing them  her  ways,  using  them  as  soldiers,  making  them 
citizens. 

Yet  there  always  remained,  beyond  her  farthest  marches, 
a  great  un-Roman  wilderness,  peopled  with  un-Romanized 
tribes.  It  was  to  keep  out  these  peoples  that  she  built 
frontier  forts  and  boundary  walls  and  had  her  warlike 
legions.  But  the  barbarians  filtered  through  even  these 
strong  defenses.  Though  Rome  kept  out  their  hostile 
armies,  yet  all  the  time  small  numbers  were  coming  in 
friendly  ways  into  the  empire.  They  enlisted  in  the 
army  and  were  to  be  found  in  the  emperor's  bodyguard 

xSee  page  101. 
140 


THE  BARBARIAN  CONQUERORS  141 

and  in  the  frontier  forts.  Hardly  a  battle  was  fought 
that  had  not  barbarian  troops  on  the  Roman  side.  Some 
of  these  men  worked  up  to  the  high  position  of  generals, 
and  a  few  even  became  consuls.  The  barbarian  captives 
after  a  battle  were  sold  as  slaves  in  the  empire,  to  work 
Roman  farms  and  to  act  as  household  servants. 

Several  times,  too,  emperors  opened  the  door  of  the 
empire  to  this  or  that  tribe  and  allowed  them  to  settle 
inside  the  Roman  boundaries,  thinking  it  wise  to  make 
friends  among  the  barbarians  and  to  use  them  as  frontier 
guards  against  the  others  of  their  race.  At  one  time 
40,000  Goths  were  allowed  to  settle  on  the  Roman  side 
of  the  Rhine.  Gaul  was  peppered  over  with  little  bar- 
barian colonies,  owning  land  and  under  promise  to  fight 
for  Rome  when  she  called.  In  all  these  ways  the  empire 
was  soaking  up  barbarians  as  a  sponge  soaks  up  water. 

The  Germans 

There  were  many  of  these  barbarian  tribes  —  Franks, 
Vandals,  Goths,  Burgundians,  Saxons,  Lombards  —  but 
they  were  all  related  and  had  similar  customs,  laws, 
languages.  People  often  speak  of  all  of  them  as  the 
"  Germans."  They  are  the  races  from  whom  the  modern 
Germans  and  Dutch  and  English  and  Scandinavians  are 
descended.  Tacitus  describes  them  as  they  were  about 
a  hundred  years  after  Christ,  in  districts  where  they  were 
untouched  by  civilization.  They  seem  in  many  ways 
like  one  of  our  Indian  tribes. 

"  Generally,"  Tacitus  says,  " their  only  clothing  is  a 
cloak  fastened  with  a  clasp,  or  if  they  haven't  that,  with 
i  a  thorn ;  this  being  their  only  garment  they  pass  whole 
days  about  the  hearth  or  near  a  fire.  .  .  .  There  are 
those,  also,  who  wear  the  skins  of  wild  beasts.  .  .  . 
They  select  certain  animals,  and  stripping  their  hides, 


142 


THE   NEWER  NATIONS 


sew  on  them  patches  of  spotted  skin  taken  from  those 
strange  beasts  that  the  distant  ocean  and  the  unknown 
sea  bring  forth." 

It  seemed  strange  to  the  Romans  to  find  people  not 

.  having  walled  cities.     Tacitus  speaks  of  it  with  surprise. 

"It  is  well  known  that  none  of  the  German 

tribes  live  in  cities  nor  even  permit  their  houses 

to  be  closely  joined  to  each  other.     They  live  separated 

and  in  various  places,  as  a  spring  or  a  meadow  or  a  grove 

strikes  their  fancy.  They  lay 
out  their  villages,  not  as  with 
us  in  connected  or  closely 
joined  houses,  but  each  one 
surrounds  his  dwelling  with  an 
open  space.' '  Their  houses 
were  crude  log  huts.  The 
land  did  not  belong  to  indi- 
vidual men,  as  with  us,  but 
the  village  owned  it  and  di- 
vided it  among  people  as  it 
was  needed. 

1 '  They  cultivate  fresh  fields, ' ' 
Tacitus  says,  "  every  year,  and 
there  is  still  land  to  spare. 
They  do  not  plant  orchards 
nor  lay  off  meadow  lands  nor  irrigate  gardens."  They 
only  scratched  the  ground,  evidently,  and  threw  upon 
it  a  little  wheat  and  were  content  with  whatever  crop 
came;  for  they  did  not  like  farming.  "Nor  could  you 
persuade  them  to  till  the  soil  and  await  the  yearly  pro- 
duce so  easily  as  you  could  induce  them  to  stir  up  an 
enemy  and  earn  glorious  wounds.  Nay,  they  even  think 
it  tame  and  stupid  to  acquire  by  their  sweat  what  they 
can  purchase  by  their  blood." 


A    Frankish    Barbarian 
Early  Times 


THE  BARBARIAN  CONQUERORS 


143 


They  seem  to  have  been  lazy  people,  for  Tacitus  says : 
"  In  the  intervals  of  peace  they  spend  little  time  in  hunting 
but  much  in  idleness,  given 
over  to  sleep  and  eating; 
all  the  bravest  and  most 
warlike  doing  nothing,  while 
the  hearth  and  home  and 
the  care  of  the  fields  is  given 
over  to  the  women,  the  old 
men,  and  the  various  infirm 
members  of  the  family." 

Very  few  of  those  ancient 
German  warriors  wore   ar- 
mor and  helmets.  They  car- 
ried   shields    and 
javelins  and  could  ^e™^ 
throw  their  spears 
to  a  great  distance.     There- 
fore, it  was  without  swords 
and  without  armor  and  with 
ill-trained  horses  that  they 
met    the    Roman    legion. 
Yet  they  fought  with  mar- 
velous courage.     "It  is  the 
greatest      disgrace,"      says 
Tacitus,  "to  have  left  one's 


A  German  Warrior 


shield  on  the  field,  and  it  is  unlawful  for  a  man  so  dis- 
graced to  be  present  at  the  sacred  rites  or  to  enter  the 
assembly ;  so  that  many  after  escaping  from  battle  have 
ended  their  shame  with  the  halter."  They  went  into 
battle  shouting,  with  their  shields  before  their  mouths,  so 
that  they  swelled  the  noise  and  made  what  Tacitus  calls 
"a  wild  and  confused  roar." 

There  was  almost  constant  warfare,  Germans  against 


144  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

Romans,  or  Germans  against  Germans :  for  every  chief 
had  a  band  of  young  warriors.  "  There  is  great  rivalry 
among  these  companions/'  says  Tacitus,  "as  to  who  shall 
rank  first  with  the  chief,  and  among  the  chiefs  as  to  who 
shall  have  the  most  and  the  bravest  followers.  .  .  .  When 
they  go  into  battle  it  is  a  disgrace  for  the  chief  to  be  out- 
done in  deeds  of  valor,  and  for  the  following  not  to 
match  the  courage  of  their  chief;  furthermore,  for  any 
one  of  the  followers  to  have  survived  his  chief  and  to 
come  unharmed  out  of  a  battle  is  lifelong  infamy  and 
reproach." 

"  Certain  figures  and  images  taken  from  their  sacred 
groves  they  carry  into  battle,  but  their  greatest  incitement 
to  courage  is  that  a  division  of  horse  or  foot  is  not  made 
up  by  chance,  but  is  formed  of  f amilies  and  clans ;  and 
their  dear  ones  are  close  at  hand  so  that  the  wailings  of 
the  women  and  the  crying  of  the  children  can  be  heard 
during  the  battle.  These  are  for  each  warrior  the  most 
sacred  witnesses  of  his  bravery." 

These  half -wild  warriors  had  other  virtues  than  courage. 
They  loved  their  families  and  respected  their  women. 
They  loved  liberty  and  held  public  meetings 
v^tu*11  wnere  au<  freemen  helped  to  decide  tribal 
business.  Their  kings  and  generals  they  chose 
by  vote,  and  these  kings  did  not  have  unlimited  power; 
in  all  important  matters  the  people  were  consulted. 
Such  were  the  Germans  who  were  now  facing  the 
empire,  a  very  different  sort  of  people  from  the  Ro- 
mans, with  much  to  learn  from  them,  and  something  to 

teach. 

The  Conquests  of  the  Goths 

Before  400  a.d.  something  happened  to  set  all  these 
tribes  in  motion.  The  stir  began  on  their  far  eastern 
border  in  Asia  among  the   German   Goths.     A  Roman 


.  THE  BARBARIAN  CONQUERORS        145 

writer  and  soldier  of  that  time  says:  "A  report  spread 
far  and  wide  through  the  nations  of  the  Goths  The  Huns 
that  a  race   of  men,    hitherto   unknown,   had  Set  the 
suddenly  descended  like  a  whirlwind  from  the  Germans 
lofty  mountains  .  .  .  and  were  ravaging  and  m    ohon 
destroying  everything  that  came  in  their  way." 

He  describes  the  ugly,  scarred  faces  of  these  Huns  and 
their  strong,  short-legged  bodies.  "They  live,"  he  says, 
"on  roots  or  the  half -raw  flesh  of  animals.  .  .  .  They 
never  shelter  themselves  under  roofed  houses,  .  .  .  but 
they  wander  about,  roaming  over  the  mountains  and  the 
woods.  .  .  .  There  is  not  a  person  in  the  whole  nation 
who  cannot  remain  on  his  horse  day  and  night.  .  .  .  None 
of  them  plow,  or  even  touch  a  plow  handle,  for  they  have 
no  settled  abode,  but  are  homeless  and  lawless,  per- 
petually wandering  with  their  wagons,  which  they  make 
their  homes.  .  .  .  This  race  went  on  slaughtering  all 
the  nations  in  their  neighborhood." 

The  Goths,  brave  and  warlike  though  they  were,  fled 
before  this  yet  fiercer  people  and  came  to  the  Danube 
River,  to  the  northwest  of  Constantinople, 
which  since  the  time  of  Constantine  had  been 
the  papital  of  the  Roman  empire.  They  looked  into  the 
protected  land  of  the  empire  and  thought  that  surely 
there  was  safety.  One  group  of  them  sent  messengers  to 
the  emperor  at  Constantinople  and  "humbly  entreated," 
says  the  old  historian,  "to  be  received  by  him  as  his 
subjects.  They  promised  to  five  quietly  and  to  furnish 
troops."  The  emperor  consented,  and  the  Goths  "crossed 
the  stream  day  and  night,  without  ceasing." 

But  the  Romans  and  the  Goths  could  not  five  peaceably 
together  for  very  long.     The  Romans  treated 
their  new  subjects  cruelly  and  dishonestly,  and 
soon  the  Goths  rose.     In  the  great  battle  of  Adrianople 


146  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

they  found  that  they  could  defeat  the  Roman  armies. 
Alaric  is  ^  ^ew  years  a^er  that  they  revolted  from  the 
Chosen  empire  and  decided  to  have  a  king  of  their  own. 
King  of  the  They  chose  a  brave  young  warrior,  Alaric,  and 
raised  him  on  their  shields  in  German  fashion. 

They  had  made  a  good  choice.  He  was  a  man  of 
intelligence  and  power  and  of  ambitious  dreams.  He 
saw  the  whole  empire  open  before  him,  rich  in  spoil  and 
adventure.  He  gave  the  word,  and  a  great  host  of  his 
countrymen  began  to  move,  perhaps  300,000  people.  A 
long  line  of  clumsy  wagons  with  thick,  wooden  wheels 
started  out  from  Constantinople.  In  these  rode  the 
women  and  children  and  the  feeble  old  men.  In  these 
were  packed,  also,  a  few  necessary  things  —  tools,  pots 
and  kettles,  extra  arrows,  swords,  and  battle  axes.  The 
full  fighting  force  of  the  nation  rode  on  horseback. 

Such  a  great  number  of  people  needed  huge  quantities 
of  food.  They  got  it  from  the  helds,  the  full  granaries, 
the  herds,  that  they  passed.  Or,  better  yet,  they  took 
flour  ready  ground  and  bread  ready  baked,  wine  ready 
pressed  and  meat  ready  killed,  from  the  houses  and  the 
shops  of  the  villages.  When  they  tired  of  journeying, 
they  quartered  themselves  in  a  town,  sleeping  in  the 
citizens'  beds;  helping  themselves  to  food,  rich  clothes, 
treasures,  whatever  they  would.  Meantime,  the  citizens 
fled,  except  those  whom  the  Goths  captured  as  slaves  to 
serve  them  here  in  their  borrowed  houses. 

When  the  tribes  started  on  again  after  a  few  days,  the 
wagons  were  fuller  than  before.  There  were  little  bags  of 
money,  perhaps,  tools,  weapons,  provisions,  a  silver  vase 
that  might  upon  need  be  melted  into  coin.  A  Gothic 
woman  here  and  there  was  adorned  with  a  Roman  necklace 
or  was  wrapped  in  a  soft  Roman  shawl.  To  the  wagon 
ends  were  chained  a  few  slaves,  men  and  women  from  the 


THE  BARBARIAN   CONQUERORS  147 

plundered  village.     Little  of  value  remained  in  the  town. 
Indeed,  perhaps  it  was  left  blazing  behind  the  troops. 

In  such  manner  the  Goths  marched  westward  and 
southward  from  Constantinople.     There  was  no  army  to 
meet  them  at  the  famous  old  pass  of  Ther-  395AD 
mopylaB,1  and  they  went  on  into  Greece.   They  Goths 
camped  in  Athens,   they  burned    the  rebuilt  Plunder 
Corinth2  and  Argos  and  Sparta,  that  old  lion,     reece 
feeble  now.     Through  Greece  they  went,  always  burning 
towns,  tearing  down  ancient  temples,  stripping  harvest 
fields.     Their  wagons  grew  heavier  and  richer  as  Greece 
grew  poorer;    for  they  filled  them  continually  with  the 
treasures  of  plundered  cities. 

After  several  years  they  entered  Italy  and  went  through 
the  land,  living,  as  before,  by  plunder.  Three  times  they 
besieged  Rome  itself.  Once  the  starving  and  frightened 
Romans  bought  peace  with  "the  payment  of  5000  pounds 
of  gold,  of  30,000  pounds  of  silver,  of  4000  robes  of  silk, 
of  3000  pieces  of  fine  scarlet  cloth,  and  of  3000  pounds' 
weight  of  pepper.' '  Though  she  was  not  now  the  capital, 
yet  Rome  had  money  and  treasures,  it  appears.  Finally, 
the  Gothic  army  entered  her  gates,  however,  and  plundered 
the  city.  A  foreign  army  in  the  streets  of 
Rome !  Such  a  thing  had  not  happened  in  800 
years,  not  since  the  Gauls  had  done  the  like. 

Alaric,  however,  had  no  mind  to  remain  in  Rome.     He 
had  his  eyes  fixed  on  a  richer  place,  grain-growing  Africa. 
So  he  led  his  tribes  south  to  take  ship,  but  before  they 
left  the  shores  of  Italy,  he  died.     The  new 
king,  Adolf,  had  a  different  dream  from  Ala-  GothsTake 
ric's.     He  had  once  hated  the  very  name  of  ^  Spain 
Rome,  he  said,  and  had  hoped  to  erase  it  from 
the  world  and  to  write  "Gothia"  over  the  old  Roman 

1  See  pages  57  and  98,  2  See  page  98, 


148  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

empire.  But  as  he  had  watched  the  Goths  on  their 
journeys  through  civilized  lands,  he  had  seen  that  they 
were  lawless,  uncontrolled.  He  had  learned  to  respect 
the  quiet  and  the  culture  that  he  had  beheld  in  Italy. 
Instead  of  becoming  Rome's  destroyer,  he  had  decided 
to  become  her  helper.  When  he  was  king,  therefore,  he 
allowed  the  Roman  emperor  to  keep  his  office  and  asked 
him  to  accept  the  Gothic  army  as  Roman  troops  and 
their  king  as  a  Roman  friend  and  confederate.  You 
may  be  sure  that  his  request  was  granted  by  the  frightened 
and  powerless  Romans. 

So  the  Goths,  as  defenders  of  the  empire,  marched 
northward  out  of  Italy  and  crossed  the  Alps  into  lower 
Gaul  and  northern  Spain.  These,  remember, 
were  civilized  lands,  as  Roman  as  Italy.  In 
this  rich  and  peaceful  country  the  Goths  settled.  They 
were  not  welcome,  of  course.  They  were  rude  barbarians, 
without  learning  and  without  good  manners.  Gallic 
gentlemen  scorned  them.  Besides,  Gallic  farms  and  Gallic 
purses  had  to  support  them.  The  Goths  even  pushed 
themselves  into  gentlemen's  houses,  ate  ravenously  at 
their  tables  beside  the  masters,  and  slept  in  the  guest 
rooms.  Yet  courage  and  strength  were  on  the  side  of 
the  Goths,  and  they  stayed  and  grew  strong.  After  a 
few  years  one  of  their  kings  had  a  realm  stretching  over 
most  of  what  is  now  France  and  Spain. 

The  Franks 

Now,  these  Goths  were  not  the  only  German  people 
set  in  motion  by  the  Huns.  At  the  time  when  Alaric 
was  overrunning  Greece  and  Italy,  other  German  tribes 
were  invading  nearly  all  of  western  Europe.  One  of 
the  most  important  of  these  peoples,  one  which  put 
the  deepest  mark  on  Europe,  one  which  founded  two  of 


THE  BARBARIAN  CONQUERORS 


149 


her  greatest  nations  —  France  and  Germany  —  was  the 
Franks. 

About  the  time  of  Alaric  they  were  on  the  northern 
shore  of  what  is  now  Germany,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Rhine 
River.     But  they  were  growing  stronger,  and  they  soon 


The  Germanic  Kingdoms 

SCALEOF  MILES 

0       100     200     300     400     600 

Longitude  West Q  °       Longitude  E'ast  from  Greenwich 


Showing  the  remnant  of  the  Roman  empire  and  the  lands  held  by  the 
various  barbarian  tribes  toward  the  end  of  the  fifth  century 


began  to  spread  westward  and  southward  into  Gaul. 
They  were  blessed  with  great  success  in  battle  and  with 
a  strong  and  wily  king,  Clovis.  They  conquered  certain 
German  tribes  to  the  west  of  them.  To  the  east,  in 
northern  Gaul,  they  conquered  a  remnant  of  the  .Roman 
empire. 


ISO 


THE  NEWER  NATIONS 


Clovis 

A  statue  above  his  grave.     As  in  all 

tombs  of  the  Middle  Ages,  the  figure  is 

lying  down,  with  head  on  pillow  and 

cushion  at  feet 


But  Clovis  was  not  satis- 
fied with  this.  He  decided 
that  he  would  have  all  of 
fertile  Gaul.  So  he  took 
an  army  southward  against 
the  kingdom  that  his  Ger- 
man kindred,  the  Goths,  had 
founded,  beat  them  in  bat- 
tle, and  drove  them  down 
into  Spain.  In  a  few  years 
he  had  conquered  a  great 
country  —  practically  all  of 
modern  France  and  Belgium 
and  Holland  and  perhaps 
half  of  modern  Germany. 

The  Franks  of  his  time 
were  still  heathen,  worship- 
ing Thor  and  Woden;  but 
Christianity  was  in  the  very 
The  air  of  this  old  Ro- 

Franks  manized  country. 
Become  The  conquerors 
Christian       of  Qaul  were  get_ 

tied  among  Christian  people 
and  Christian  churches,  and 
Clovis  soon  married  a 
Christian  princess.  It  was 
not  long,  therefore,  until 
the  Franks,  also,  adopted 
the  new  faith.  The  way  in 
which  it  happened  accord- 
ing to  the  old  story  is  in- 
teresting. 

Clovis  was  at  war  with 


THE  BARBARIAN  CONQUERORS        1 5 1 

certain  neighbors,  and  the  battle  was  going  against  him. 
No  human  help  seemed  able  to  save  him.  Then  he 
thought  of  the  God  to  whom  his  Christian  wife 
prayed,  and  he  cried  out :  "  O  Jesus  Christ,  .  .  . 
I  humbly  beseech  thy  succor  !  I  have  called  on  my  gods, 
and  they  are  far  from  my  help.  If  Thou  wilt  deliver  me 
from  mine  enemies,  I  will  believe  in  Thee  and  be  baptized 
in  Thy  name."  Immediately  the  enemy  began  to  lose, 
and  the  battle  ended  in  a  glorious  victory  for  Clovis.  Soon 
afterward  he  was  baptized  as  he  had  promised,  along  with 
three  thousand  of  his  warriors.  It  was  not  many  years 
before  all  the  people  had  followed  their  king's  example. 
A  hundred  years  later  the  Franks  had  even  forgotten  the 
names  of  their  earlier  gods. 

Charlemagne's  Empire 

So  this  Christian  people,  the  Franks,  settled  in  the 
broad   lands   that   Clovis   had   conquered.     Kings   were 
crowned  and  died,  descendants  of  Clovis,  most 
of  them  poor,  weak  creatures.     But  they  had  ^xs.  of 
officers   ("mayors  of   the  palace,"    they  were  magne 
called),  strong  and  wise  men,  who  did  their 
work   for   them.     So   the   Franks   prospered   and   grew 
stronger,  until  there  came  to  be  their  king  one  of  the 
greatest  men  of  the  world,   Charlemagne,   or 
Charles  the  Great.     He  was  a  brave  warrior  and 
a  wise  general,  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  "  mayors  of 
the  palace."      By  his  wars  he  doubled  the  size  of   his 
kingdom.     He  pushed  his  eastern  border  to  the  Danube, 
conquering  fierce  heathen  tribes  that  dwelt  in  that  region. 

At  the  north  he  carried  on  a  terrible  war  for  thirty 
years  with  the  Saxons,  brave  German  kindred  772-803 
of  the  Franks  themselves.     Only   after  cruel  AD- 
slaughter   did    Saxony    lie    quiet    under    Charlemagne's 


152 


THE   NEWER  NATIONS 


hand.  He  won  the  northern  part  of  Italy,  also,  where 
a  German  tribe  called  Lombards  had  been  settled  for  200 
years.      Charlemagne  defeated   them,  placed  their  iron 


his  own  head, 
declared    their 


Pope  Crowning  Charlemagne 

A  little  decoration  on  a  manuscript  seven 
hundred  years  old 


crown  on 
and  was 
king. 

All  these  conquests  gave 

the    Franks    an    empire 

larger  than  any 

Ernke1       other  that  had 
Formed       existed  for  four 

hundred  years, 
since  the  Roman  empire 
had  begun  to  fall  to 
pieces.  They  made 
Charlemagne  the  great- 
est ruler  in  Europe. 
People  thought  of  his 
kingdom  as  a  second 
Roman  empire  and  of  him  as  a  new  emperor. 

It  seemed  proper  for  the  greatest  king  in  Europe  to  bear 
the  highest  title  possible  to  a  ruler.  So  when  Charle- 
magne visited  Rome,  the  head  of  the  Christian  church, 
the  pope,  "set  a  crown  upon  his  head,  while  all  the  Roman 
populace  cried  aloud,  '  Long  life  and  victory  to  the  mighty 
Charles,  the  great  emperor  of  the  Romans,  crowned  of 
God.'  After  [that]  .  .  ."  the  chronicler  goes  on,  "he  was 
called  emperor  and  Augustus."  He  was  famous  through 
all  the  world  of  that  time.  Ambassadors  came  to  his 
court  from  far-off  Arabia  and  strange  Africa.  They 
brought  him  gifts,  too,  curious  things  from  their  lands  — 
perfumes,  spices,  monkeys,  and  even  an  elephant,  the  only 
one  that  western  Europe  had  seen  since  Hannibal's  time.1 

i  See  pages  92-95. 


THE   BARBARIAN  CONQUERORS  153 

Charlemagne's  wars  were  important,  not  because  they 
made  Frankland  larger,  but  for  other  reasons.     For  one 
thing,  Charlemagne  Christianized  all  German  How 
lands  as  he  conquered  them.    He  built  churches  charle- 
in  them  and  sent  out  priests  to  preach  and  to  magne 
baptize.     When  he  was  trying  to  make  Chris-        e 
tians  of  the  newly  conquered  Saxons  he  made  some  laws 
that  seem  cruel  and  unchristian  to  us,  but  they  show,  at 
least,  how  much  in  earnest  he  was,  and  how  stubborn  the 
Saxons  were.     One  law  read  somewhat  like  this  :  "If  any 
Saxon  shall  try  to  hide  himself  unbaptized   and   shall 
scorn  to  come  to  baptism  and  shall  wish  to  remain  pagan, 
let  him  be  punished  by  death.' ' 

Charlemagne  made  laws,  also,  to  protect  and  support 
the  churches  that  he  built  and  the  missionaries  that  he 
sent  out.  "We  command  that  all  shall  give  a  tenth  of 
their  property  and  their  labor  to  the  churches  and  the 
priests.  ...  On  the  Lord's  day  all  shall  go  to  church 
to  hear  the  word  of  God.  ...  If  any  one  shall  enter  a 
church  by  violence  and  carry  off  anything  in  it  by  force 
or  theft  or  shall  burn  the  church  itself,  let  him  be  punished 
by  death."  Under  these  hard  laws  and  the  gentler 
teaching  of  the  missionaries,  Saxony  was  soon  converted 
and  thoroughly  Germanized. 

Charlemagne  carefully  planned  how  his  great  empire 
should  be  ruled.  He  kept  a  strong  army,  and  it  was  the 
duty  of  every  freeman  who  owned  any  property  to  do 
his  share  in  fighting  or  in  helping  to  furnish  arms  and  food 
for  a  substitute.  The  neighbors  to  the  east  were  still 
dangerous,  barbarous  tribes.  Here  Charlemagne  built 
forts  and  put  strong  men  in  command  of  the  land  and  the 
people.  These  counts  were  responsible  for  protecting  the 
land  from  the  barbarians  and  for  collecting  troops  and 
bringing  them  to  the  king  upon  need. 


154  THE   NEWER  NATIONS 

He  wrote  to  them  at  assembly  time  much  as  follows : 
"We  have  decided  to  hold  our  general  assembly  this  year 
at  the  place  called  Stassfurt.  Come  with  your  men  to 
this  place  prepared  to  go  in  any  direction  whither  our 
summons  shall  direct.  Each  horseman  shall  have  a 
breastplate,  shield,  lance,  sword,  dagger,  bow  and  quiver 
with  arrows.  In  your  carts  shall  be  axes,  planes,  augers, 
boards,  spades,  iron  shovels,  and  other  tools  which  are 
necessary  in  an  army.  In  the  carts  shall  be,  also,  supplies 
of  food  for  three  months  and  arms  and  clothing  for  half 
a  year.  And  we  command  that  you  proceed  peaceably 
through  our  realm.  You  shall  take  nothing  except 
fodder,  food,  and  water." 

These  assemblies  were  held  twice  a  year,  first  in  one 
city  of  the  great  empire,  then  in  another.  They  were  not 
The  only  for  the  purpose   of  collecting  an  army. 

Frankish  Any  freeman  had  the  right  to  go.  There  were 
Assem-  ricn  nobles  and  poor  farmers  there,  learned 
bishops  and  ignorant  workmen.  Officers  of  the 
king,  who  had  been  going  about  inspecting  the  country 
and  seeing  that  the  counts  did  their  duty,  here  reported 
to  Charlemagne.  If  any  count  had  acted  ill,  Charle- 
magne punished  him  as  he  thought  fit.  Moreover,  any 
man,  high  or  low,  who  thought  he  had  been  unjustly 
treated  by  his  count  made  complaint  here  in  the  assem- 
bly and  got  redress.  Here  Charlemagne  announced,  too, 
any  new  laws  that  he  had  planned. 

One  of  the  best  things  that  this  great  ruler  did  for  his 
people  was  to  educate  them.  In  his  early  years  only 
_  .  priests  and  a  few  other  men  in  Germany  could 
read  and  speak  Latin,  and  even  fewer  could 
write.  Books  were  rare,  and  there  were  no  schools. 
Most  people  were  ignorant  of  history  and  geography  and 
everything  that  books  can  teach  us.     Charlemagne  him- 


THE  BARBARIAN  CONQUERORS 


155 


self  could  not  read  until 
he  was  a  grown  man, 
and  he  never  learned  to 
write,  though  he  kept 
tablets  under  his  pillow 
at  night  and  often  drew 
them  out  and  practiced 
his  letters. 

But  Charlemagne  loved 
learning  and  hated  igno- 
rance. He  complained 
that  even  from  monas- 
teries, where  most  educa- 
tion was,  he  often  received 
letters  which  were  full  of 
mistakes  and  uncouth  ex- 
pressions.  Now,  he 
thought  that  "  those  who 
desire  to  please  God  by 
living  rightly  should  not 
neglect  to  please  him  also 
by  speaking  correctly/' 
So  he  set  about  instructing 
his  people.  He  brought 
church  singers  from  Italy, 
the  home  of  culture.  He 
sent  for  Italian  artists  to 
decorate  his  churches  and 
palaces.  He  even  brought 
up  statues  and  carved 
columns  from  Italian 
cities  to  beautify  his  new 
buildings. 

He  had  copies  of  great 


Charlemagne 

The  picture  was  made  much  later  than 
his  time.  He  carries  the  globe,  as  the 
Roman  emperors  had  done  to  show  that 
they  ruled  the  World.  He  wears  the 
Roman  eagle  on  his  shoulder.  (Many 
modern  nations  have  adopted  the  same 
emblem.)  The  fleur-de-lis  reminds  us 
that  modern  France  as  well  as  Germany 
was  a  part  of  his  kingdom 


156  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

books  made,  and  so  collected  a  library  —  a  rare  thing  in 
Frankland.  He  invited  scholars  from  other  lands  to 
come  and  live  at  his  palace  and  to  teach  there.  Not 
only  boys  studied  at  that  palace  school,  but  nobles  of  the 
court,  and  the  most  eager  student  of  all  was  the  king 
himself.  But  one  school  was  not  enough.  Charlemagne 
wrote  frequently  to  the  monasteries,  saying,  "Let  schools 
be  established  in  which  boys  may  learn  to  read."  He 
went  about  among  these  schools  and  examined  the  pupils. 
At  one  time  he  praised  some  boys  who  studied  well,  say- 
ing :  "My  children,  you  have  found  much  favor  with  me. 
.  .  .  Study  to  be  perfect,  and  I  will  give  you  bishoprics 
and  splendid  monasteries,  and  you  shall  always  be  honor- 
able in  my  eyes." 

For  hundreds  of  years  people  looked  back  to  Charle- 
magne with  affection  and  told  marvelous  tales  of  his 
courage  and  his  wisdom.     Indeed,  he  was  a  man  to  love 

and  admire.  His  friend,  Einhard,  says  :  "  His 
The  Man  ^0(jy  was  iarge  ancj  strong,  his  stature  tall.  .  .  . 
magne         His  eyes  were  very  large   and  piercing.     His 

nose  was  rather  larger  than  is  usual,  he  had 
beautiful  white  hair,  and  his  expression  was  brisk  and 
cheerful,  so  that  whether  sitting  or  standing,  his  appear- 
ance was  dignified  and  impressive." 

He  must  have  made  a  noble  picture  as  he  sat  on  his 
throne,  with  his  high  boots,  his  long  Frankish  tunic  and 
blue  cloak  of  silk,  embroidered  with  gold  and  clasped  with 
gold  buckles,  with  a  jeweled  crown  on  his  head  and  at 
his  side  a  sword  with  a  jeweled  hilt.  Those  were  indeed 
worthy  ornaments  for  the  wise  Charlemagne,  with  his 
quick  eyes  flashing  over  the  crowd  of  courtiers  and  his 
keen  mind  listening,  learning,  planning  sound  laws  or 
great  battles  or  new  schools,  — the  greatest  king  in  Chris- 
tendom. 


THE  BARBARIAN  CONQUERORS  157 

The  Vikings 

During  the  last  years  of  Charlemagne  enemies  appeared 
on  his  coasts  that  promised  trouble  for  his  descend- 
ants. These  were  the  Northmen,  from  the  countries 
which  we  now  call  Norway,  Sweden,  and  Denmark. 
They,  like  the  Franks  and  Goths  and  Saxons,  were  Ger- 
man.1 They  had  not  moved  with  the  other  Germans, 
however.  When  Alaric  and  the  Goths  were  besieging 
Rome,2  these  Northmen  had  probably  been  in  their  far 
northern  homes  for  hundreds  of  years.  There  they  had 
developed  a  brave,  hardy  kind  of  life.  They  loved  danger, 
as  the  Greeks  had  loved  beauty.  They  were  at  home  on 
their  ships,  as  the  Huns  were  on  their  horses.  They 
could  swim  like  fish  and  fight  like  tigers. 

They  had  boats  much  like  those  of  the  early  Greeks 
—  long  and  narrow,  with  forty  or  fifty  oars,  a  single 
mast,  and  a  square  sail.  The  sail  was  for  fair  weather, 
the  oars  for  storm  j  the  sail  for  leisure,  and  the  oars  for 
speed.  A  boat  was  warship,  pirate  ship,  trading  vessel 
all  in  one.  The  men  were  at  the  same  time  pirates,  peace- 
able merchants,  and  useful  explorers.  In  the  boat  were 
provisions  for  a  few  days :  at  the  men's  sides  hung  swords 
that  could  get  them  more  at  the  first  landing.  Around 
the  ship's  sides  glittered  forty  or  fifty  shields,  hanging 
ready  for  use.  Behind  each  rowed  its  warrior  owner.  As 
a  voyage  ended,  and  the  ship  neared  land,  out  leaped  the 
agile  oarsmen,  dragged  the  shallow  boat  upon  shore, 
snatched  down  shield  and  battle-ax,  and  stood  ready  for 
fight. 

An  old  Norse  story  tells  of  one  Viking  hero  who  "from 
his  youth  up  loathed  the  fire  boiler  and  sitting  indoors, 
the  warm  bower,  and  the  bolster  full  of  down."     The  hard 

1  See  page  141.  *  See  page  147. 


153 


THE   NEWER  NATIONS 


northern  winter  held  these  men  in  their  homes.  Scores 
of  big-voiced  warriors  sat  in  the  wide  feast  halls  and 
shouted  applause,  as  the  bards  sang  of  old  battle  glory. 
But  when  spring  came,  and  the  salt  breeze  blew  inland, 
the  wild  blood  began  to  dance  in  their  veins,  and  the 
smoke  of  the  hearth  fire  was  hateful  in  their  nostrils. 
Then  they  longed  to  go  a- Viking,  as  we  long  in  the  spring 
to    go    tramping    and    camping,    gypsy-fashion.     Going 


Viking  Ship 

A  modern  drawing  from  an  old  ship  found  buried  in  a  marsh.     Notice  the  oars 
instead  of  rudder,  and  the  shields  along  the  gunwale 


a- Viking  meant  making  a  pirate  voyage,  landing  here  and 
there  to  swing  swords,  to  gather  treasure,  and  to  leave 
smoking  houses  behind.  It  meant  fighting  joyously 
wherever  man  or  ship  barred  the  way. 

There  were  scores  of  petty  kings  in  these  Scandina- 
vian countries.  Every  man  of  any  wealth  and  strength 
haughtily  thought  himself  the  descendant  of  the  god 
Woden  and  the  equal  of  any  man.  About  800  a.d.  three 
strong  kings  —  one  in  Norway,  one  in  Sweden,  and  one 
in  Denmark  —  each  in  his  own  country,  conquered  all 
the  lesser  kings,  and  made  themselves  supreme. 


THE  BARBARIAN  CONQUERORS  *  159 

Their  haughty  foes  scorned  to  remain  and  be  the  under- 
lings of  any  man,  so  they  sought  their  Mother  Sea  and 
went  wherever  she  led.     They  traveled  on  the      , 
long  rivers  of  Russia  down  to  the  Black  Sea.  T*a^[ 
The  emperor  at  Constantinople x  had  Northmen 
soldiers  for  his  guard.     Coins  of  far-off  Arabia  have  been 
found  buried  in  the  soil  of  Norway,  brought,  perhaps,  those 
thousands  of  miles  by  some  Viking  adventurer.     On  the 
floor  of  a  temple  in  Athens  is  scratched  a  drawing  of  the 
hammer  of  Thor,  the  Norse  god  of  war,  and  on  the  coast 
not  far  from  Piraeus  is  an  old  Greek  statue  of  a  lion  carved 
over  with  Norse  letters  that  tell  the  story  of  a  Viking  raid. 

The  Northmen  fell  like  locusts  upon  all  the  shores 
round  about  their  homes,  and  whatever  land  they  touched 
suffered  bloodshed  and  burning  and  thieving.     They  set- 
tled by  the  thousands  in  England   and   Scotland   and 
Ireland.     They  discovered   Iceland  and    Greenland  and 
peopled  them.    In  the  year  1000  they  even  touched  the 
shores  of  North  America.     They  followed  the 
coast  of  Europe  around  to  Spain  and  sacked  R^f 
Seville,  far  inland  on  a  river.    They  rowed  up 
the  streams  of  Frankland  and  plundered  cities,  burned 
bridges,  and  laid  the  country  waste. 

Charlemagne  had  held  them  in  check  while  he  lived. 
An  old  Frankish  historian  says :  "He  had  ships  built  on 
all  the  rivers  of  Gaul  and  Germany  which  flow  into  the 
northern  ocean,  and  ...  he  erected  solid  structures  at 
the  entrances  of  all  the  harbors  and  navigable  mouths  of 
rivers  and  thus  blocked  the  route  of  the  enemy." 

But  when  Charlemagne's  strong  hand  was  gone,  no 
armies  or  boats  or  fortified  bridges  could  check  the  North- 
men. The  same  historian  says  of  a  later  year :  "A  fleet 
of  two  hundred  ships,  coming  from  the  country  of  the 

1  See  page  145. 


i6o  •  THE   NEWER  NATIONS 

Northmen,  landed  in  Frisia  [now  Holland]  and  ravaged 
all  the  islands  adjacent  to  this  shore.' '  This  army  went 
inland  and  won  three  battles  against  the  Frisians.  The 
Danish  conquerors  imposed  a  tribute  of  a  hundred  pounds 
of  silver  upon  the  people. 

Indeed,  there  was  not  a  seacoast  of  Europe  that  these 
pirates  did  notr  ravage.  They  were  so  dreaded  that  a 
special  prayer  was  sung  in  the  churches,  "From  the  fury 
of  the  Northmen,  O  Lord,  deliver  us!" 

Centuries  earlier  the  German  tribes  had  moved  into 
the  Roman  empire  and  had  begun  tearing  it  to  pieces 
until  it  was  quite  gone  from  western  Europe.  The  Goths 
had  torn  off  Spain ; x  the  Lombards  had  taken  northern 
Italy ;  the  Franks  had  taken  Gaul  and  Germany 2  and  by 
new  conquests  had  built  them  into  a  great  empire.  And 
now  came  these  other  German  barbarians,  the  Vikings, 
and  helped  to  tear  that  Frankish  empire  to  pieces. 


1.  Compare  our  Indians  with  the  early  Germans.  2.  Write  a  letter 
such  as  a  Roman  trader  might  have  written  when  traveling  among  the 
Germans.  (For  more  information  than  the  text  gives,  the  teacher  may 
select  parts  of  Tacitus,  Germania,  Everyman  edition,  —  e.g.  Bks.  hi, 
iv,  vi,  viii,  xv.)  3.  What  things  did  Charlemagne  do  that  prove  him 
a  great  man?  4.  Tell  the  story  of  a  Viking  raid  as  some  skald,  or 
singer,  might  have  told  it.  5.  Model  a  Viking  ship  in  clay  or  make  it 
in  wood. 

1  See  page  148.  2  See  page  150, 


CHAPTER  VIII 


HOW  GERMANY  AND   FRANCE  BEGAN 

Charlemagne's  Empire  Divided 

The  later  rulers  of  Frankland,  the  sons  and  grandsons 
of  Charlemagne,  were  not  such  men  as  their  great  ancestor 
had  been.  They  did  not  reverence  the  wide  empire  that 
he  had  built  up.  They  saw 
in  it  only  their  separate 
shares  of  land  and  wealth  and 
power.  Instead  of  working 
to  keep  it  together,  they 
fought  to  cut  it  up  into  small 
kingdoms  for  themselves.  A 
father  often  divided  it  among 
his  sons,  and  the  sons  fought 
over  the  parts.  The  Norse- 
men were  battering  at  the 
empire  on  every  coast.  Kins- 
folk of  the  Huns x  moved  west-   „    ..  ,   t  .     T   , . 

He  sits  on  a  carved  chair.     In  his 

Ward,    and    this    fierce    enemy     hand  is   the    round   world    marked 

t       i      tt,         -ii         t  ,r         "  Asia,  Europe,  Africa "  to  show  that 

attacked    Frankland   on  the       he  is  ruler  of  the  whole  earth 
southeast*      And   still   other 

barbarous  races  were  pushing  on  her  eastern  border. 
Under  all  these  enemies  and  under  the  weakness  of  the 
rulers,  the  empire  fell  to  pieces. 

Thirty  years  after  Charlemagne's  death  there  was  a 
king  of  East  Frankland,  or  Germany,  a  king  of  West 

1  See  page  145. 
161 


Holy  Roman  Emperor 


l62 


THE  NEWER  NATIONS 


Frankland,  or  France,  and  an  emperor  who  held  Italy  and 
a  strip  between  the  west  and  east  countries.     His  fine 

title  of  emperor  amounted  to  nothing.  There 
East  and  reaiiy  was  no  empire.  Two  new  countries  were 
Frankland    growing  up, — France  and  Germany.     They  had 

always  been  rather  different  from  each  other. 
East  Frankland  was  almost  purely  Frankish,  that  is, 
German.     But  West  Frankland  was  old  Roman  Gaul.1 


Showing  the  three  sections  into  which  the  empire  of  Charlemagne  was  di- 
vided.   Later  East  and  West  Frankland  were  extended  so  that  their  bounda- 
ries touched,  as  shown  by  the  broken  line 

The  Gallic  people  there  had  taught  their  soft  Latin  and 
their  gentle  customs  to  their  Frankish  conquerors.  Now 
that  the  empire  was  broken  up  and  each  country  had  its 
own  king,  they  went  on  growing,  each  in  its  own  way. 
But  in  both  East  and  West  descendants  of  Charlemagne 


iSee  page  118. 


HOW  GERMANY  AND   FRANCE   BEGAN  163 

still  wore  the  crown,  and  good-for-nothing  rulers  they 
usually  were. 

Germany 

So  in  East  Frankland  the  people  had  little  protection 
from  the  Vikings  and  from  the  Huns  and  other  savage 
peoples  that  were  settling  on  the  eastern  border.  The 
Every  man  had  to  take  care  of  himself  by  hook  Beginning 
or  crook.     Good  fighters  were  better  off  than  of  Ger~ 
other  men  in  those  days  of  constant  warfare,  many 
because  they  could  better  protect  themselves.     So  they 
rose  to  power.    Weaker  men,  or  men  of  peace,  asked  for 
the  strong  warrior's  help  in  time  of  war  and  exchanged 
for  that  help  money,  grain,  wine,  a  piece  of  land,  or  even 
their  own  labor  in  the  stronger  man's  fields  or  service  in 
his  army  when  he  needed  soldiers. 

Such  a  man  built  a  strong  castle  with  a  great  surround- 
ing wall  to  keep  out  his  enemies.  It  was  really  a  fort. 
Other  men  built  their  huts  near  to  it  and  in  war 
time  took  refuge  in  it  with  their  families  and 
helped  to  beat  off  the  enemy.  By  such  means  the  lords 
in  all  the  countries  of  western  Europe  grew  richer  in  lands 
and  in  men.  Some  of  them  came  to  own  not  one  castle, 
but  many,  and  lands  as  wide  as  one  of  our  New  England 
states,  with  forests  and  farming  land  and  wide  rivers  and 
busy  towns.  Under  a  great  duke  were  perhaps  twenty 
or  thirty  other  lords  only  a  little  less  rich  and  powerful. 

Charlemagne  had  not  been  willing  to  allow  such  great 
princes  to  exist  in  his  kingdom.  He  had  believed  that  so 
many  powerful  men  were  bad  for  the  country.  They 
were  likely  to  be  haughty  and  selfish  and  jealous  of  one 
another.  They  would  perhaps  manage  their  lands  in 
such  a  way  as  to  gain  more  wealth  and  power  for  them- 
selves,   regardless   of   the   good   of   their  people.     They 


1 64  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

would  fight,  one  against  another,  in  selfish  quarrels,  and 
the  fields  would  be  devastated  and  the  people  slaughtered. 
They  would  disobey  the  command  of  the  king,  if  it  pleased 
them,  and  would  make  laws  of  their  own  in  their  own  lands. 
They  might  even  throw  off  all  rule  of  the  king,  tear  off 
their  lands  from  their  country,  and  set  up  new,  smaller 
kingdoms  of  their  own. 

Perhaps  Charlemagne's  descendants  saw  these  dangers 
as  clearly  as  he  had  done,  but  they  had  not  the  wisdom 
and  the  strength  to  prevent  the  growth  of  these  great 
dukes.  So  before  a  hundred  years  had  gone,  East  Frank- 
land  was  divided  into  five  or  six  great  duchies,  —  among 
them  Saxony,  which  Charlemagne  had  conquered  with 
so  many  hard  years  of  fighting l ;  Franconia,  the  oldest 
of  Frankish  lands ;  Bavaria,  whose  troublesome  master 
called  himself  "duke  by  the  grace  of  God/'  and  not  by 
the  consent  of  the  king ;  Lorraine,  on  the  border  between 
the  east  and  west  country. 

The  kings  of  Germany  had  other  troubles  besides  those 
with  their  ambitious  dukes.  You  must  remember  that 
German  Charlemagne  was  crowned  at  Rome  "  where 
Kings  as  the  Csesars  and  the  emperors  were  always  used 
Roman  to  sit,"  and  he  was  called  "the  great  emperor 
mperors  Q£  ^e  Romans^  cr0wned  of  God." 2  It  was  a 
magnificent  title,  and  his  descendants  and  the  other  kings 
of  Germany  after  them  were  eager  to  wear  it.  That 
crown  could  be  given  only  at  Rome  and  only  by  the 
pope's  hands. 

The  pope  had  been  at  first  only  bishop  of  Rome,  in 
charge  of  the  religious  affairs  of  its  few  score  churches. 
Now,  however,  he  was  much  more  than  that.  Wise, 
strong  men  had  been  Roman  bishops;  and  priests  and 
rulers  had  formed  the  habit  of  asking  their  advice  in 

1  See  page  151.  2  See  page  152. 


HOW  GERMANY  AND  FRANCE  BEGAN 


165 


many  matters.  The  church  had  come,  also,  to  own  land 
in  Italy,  as  great  dukes  or  kings  owned  land, 
and  the  Roman  bishop  ruled  these  lands  as  p^Jl? 
dukes  ruled  theirs,  or  gave  them  to  nobles  to 
hold  as  kings  gave  land  to  their  nobles.  So  the  pope 
came  to  have,  not  only 
heavenly  power,  but 
earthly  power  also.  He 
called  himself  "  Christ's 
vicar, "  that  is,  one  to 
whom  Christ  had  given 
the  power  to  do  part  of 
His  work  for  Him .  Some 
people  thought  that  this 
meant  only  looking  after 
the  souls  of  men,  appoint- 
ing priests  and  officers 
of  the  church,  planning 
and  attending  to  church 
affairs.  Other  people 
thought  that  it  meant 
much  more  than  that. 
It  seemed  to  them  that 
religion  and  the  church 
and  the  pope  ought  to 
control  all  the  actions  of 
all  men.     They  thought 

that  God  had  given  the  pope  power  to  appoint  and  to 
command  princes  and  kings  and  the  emperor,  that  the 
pope  was  the  rightful  umpire  of  all  troubles  and  the 
decider  of  all  questions. 

A  great  bishop  of  that  time  once  said:  "The  church 
triumphant  stands  next  to  God,  and  the  power  of  this 
church  next  to  divine  power,  then  comes  the  power  of  the 


The  Pope  on  His  Throne 

A  great  English  earl  on  a  pilgrimage 
kneels  before  him.  Notice  the  pope's 
triple  crown,  a  symbol  which  he  still  wears. 
At  the  pope's  right  stands  a  cardinal, 
known  by  his  hat.  Behind  the  earl  is  a 
bishop,  known  by  his  staff 


1 66  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

clergy  and  the  priesthood,  whereas  [earthly]  power  comes 
last  and  is  placed  subject  to  that  of  the  clergy  and  the 
priesthood/'  And  one  of  the  popes,  in  speaking  before  a 
meeting  of  cardinals  and  bishops,  said:  "Holy  Fathers 
and  Lords!  let  the  whole  world  now  know  and  under- 
stand that  as  you  can  bind  and  loose  in  heaven,  you  can 
also  upon  earth  give  and  take  away  from  each  according 
to  his  merits,  empires,  kingdoms,  principalities,  duchies, 
marquisates,  counties,  and  all  possessions.  ...  If  you 
judge  the  angels,  who  are  the  masters  of  the  proudest 
princes,  what  may  you  not  do  with  the  princes,  their 
slaves!" 

Indeed,  to  get  this  pope's  forgiveness  a  very  proud 
emperor  once  climbed  barefoot  up  the  hill  to  the  pope's 
castle  and  threw  himself  weeping  on  the  floor  at  the 
pope's  feet.  And  every  newly  chosen  emperor  journeyed 
hundreds  of  miles  to  Rome,  knelt  before  the  pope,  kissed  his 
feet,  and  received  from  him  as  a  gift  the  sword,  the  lance, 
the  golden  apple,  the  scepter,  and  the  emperor's  crown. 

Yet  the  emperors  claimed  to  be  the  equals  of  the  popes 
in  earthly  matters.  They  thought  of  themselves  as  the 
Emperors*  descendants  of  the  Roman  emperors  of  old 
Struggle  time,  who  had  possessed  the  whole  civilized 
with  the  world,  and  who  had  been  worshiped  as  gods, 
opes  Therefore,  they  believed  that  no  other  prince 

could  hold  land  except  as  a  gift  from  them.  They  thought, 
moreover,  that  special  power  to  rule  had  been  given 
them  by  God.  Many  other  people  believed  the  same 
things.  An  old  writer  calls  a  certain  emperor  "the 
greatest  of  earthly  princes,  the  wonder  of  the  world,  and 
the  regulator  of  its  proceedings."  This  left  no  room  for 
an  equal  of  the  emperor. 

Trouble  would  necessarily  come  out  of  such  a  situation. 
Sometimes    the    pope    for   one   reason  or  another  was 


HOW  GERMANY  AND  FRANCE  BEGAN 


167 


not  willing  to  crown  a  German  king  emperor.  Generally 
the  people  of  Italy  sided  with  the  pope ;  then  there  was 
war.  Oftentimes  some  of  the  German  nobles  took  the 
pope's  part  and  rebelled  against  the  king.     And  because 


The  Greatness  op  the  Emperor 
He  is  in  his  palace.     The  word  behind  him  names  him  "Wisdom" 

the  pope  was  the  head  of  the  Christian  church,  there 
were  religious  troubles.  Sometimes  he  would  not  allow 
any  priest  to  perform  services  for  the  king.  Sometimes 
he  would  order  all  the  churches  of  Germany  to  be  closed 
and  so  would  leave  the  country  feeling  cut  off  from  God. 


1 68  THE   NEWER  NATIONS 

His  hope  was  that  the  people  in  their  distress  would 
force  the  king  to  obey  the  pope  in  order  that  the  churches 
might  again  be  opened. 

The  story  of  Frederick  II  shows  how  emperors  had  to 

struggle  against  their  own  Germans,  against  the  Italian 

people,  and  against  the  pope.    It  shows,  too,  how 

re  erw       Germany  suffered  and  Italy  suffered,  because 

1250  a.d.    the  German  king  wished  to  be,  also,  emperor 

His  Fight     of  the    "Holy  Roman    Empire."     Frederick's 

to  Become     father   ha(J    Deen    one   0f    ftie  m0st   powerful  of 

the  emperors,  but  he  had  died  when  his  son 
was  a  child.  The  German  dukes  were  unwilling  to  elect 
a  mere  boy  for  their  king ;  and  the  pope  did  not  think  it 
wise  to  make  him  emperor,  for  the  child  was  king  of  Sicily, 
and  the  pope  was  afraid  that  Germany  and  Sicily  would 
combine  against  him. 

So  two  of  the  great  dukes,  Philip  and  Otto,  put  them- 
selves forward  as  candidates.  Each  of  them  called  a 
meeting  of  the  electors  to  choose  a  new  king.  But  Philip's 
friends  went  to  one  meeting,  and  Otto's  friends  to  another. 
Philip's  friends  elected  Philip,  and  Otto's  friends  elected 
Otto.  Then  they  tried  to  decide  the  matter  by  war. 
Sometimes  Otto  won  the  battles,  and  sometimes 
Philip.  At  one  time  the  pope  favored  one  man  and  at 
another  time  the  other,  and  nobles  often  changed 
sides.  So  Germany  was  a  distressful  place,  full  of  war 
and  treachery.  At  last  Philip  died,  and  Otto  was 
emperor,  and  safe,  he  thought.  But  before  long  the  pope 
became  displeased  with  him  and  looked  about  for  a 
new  man. 

Meantime  the  little  Frederick  had  been  growing  into 
a  clever,  learned,  mild-mannered  prince  down  in  Sicily. 
Perhaps  the  pope  now  thought  that  Frederick  was  sure 
to  be  his  friend,  and  when  the  princes  of  Germany  re- 


HOW  GERMANY  AND  FRANCE   BEGAN  169 

menibered  the  greatness  of  his  father  and  his  grandfather, 

they  were  easily  persuaded  that  he  was  the  right  one  for 

their  king.     So  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  Otto  was 

still  wearing  the  crown,  they  listened  to  the 

pope  and  chose  Frederick  for  German  king  and  future 

Roman  emperor. 

But  Otto  would  not  tamely  step  aside.  He  gathered 
together  his  few  remaining  friends  in  Germany  and  got 
money  and  men  from  some  foreign  dukes  and  from  the 
king  of  England.  The  war,  however,  went  against  him, 
his  friends  deserted  him,  and  Frederick  was  left  in 
power. 

It  was  this  Frederick  whom  the  men  of  his  own  time 
called  "  the  wonder  of  the  world."  He  could  speak  half  the 
languages  of  Europe — Italian,  French,  German, 
Greek,  Latin,  besides  Arabic.  He  was  poet,  the  Man  ' 
singer,  warrior,  physician,  lawyer.  He  had  read, 
so  it  seemed  to  people  of  his  time,  all  the  books  of  the  world 
and  possessed  all  the  knowledge  of  men.  His  court  in 
Sicily  was  as  brilliant  as  that  of  an  Eastern  prince,  with 
black  slaves  blowing  on  silver  trumpets,  with  a  "  throne 
of  gold  decked  with  pearls  and  precious  stones,"  and  a 
menagerie  of  strange  beasts.  He  had  an  elephant,  lions, 
panthers,  camels,  and  tame  leopards  that  were  trained  to 
hunt  on  horseback.  He  was  a  great  and  rich  merchant, 
too.  Matthew  Paris,  the  English  writer  who  lived  at 
this  time,  says,  "In  [one]  year  twelve  camels  were  sent  to 
[Frederick]  from  the  East,  laden  with  gold  and  silver ;  for 
he  was  a  partner  in  mercantile  traffic  and  a  great  friend 
of  all  the  Sultans  of  the  East,  so  that  traders  traveled 
both  by  land  and  sea,  even  to  the  Indies  [that  is,  to 
India],  on  his  account." 

It  seemed  as  though  this  gifted  man,  this  learned 
scholar,  this  elegant  knight,  this  powerful  king,  might 


170 


THE  NEWER  NATIONS 


make  the  dream  of  his  ancestors  come  true;  as  though 
at  last  one  man  might,  indeed,  bind  all  of  Europe  into  one 
huge  empire.  And  yet  this  great  man's  life  was  a  failure. 
For  thirty-four  years  he  ruled  as  emperor,  and  nearly  all 
that  time  was  one  continual  struggle  against  enemies. 


A  Caravan  in  the  East 


It  was  not  long  before  Frederick,  emperor  of  the  world, 
did  things  displeasing  to  the  pope,  also  ruler  of  the  world. 
At  last  the  pope  rose  in  wrath  before  a  meet- 
Fredenck  ing  of  cardinals  and  bishops;  and  after  re- 
municated  minding  them  of  Frederick's  wrong-doing,  he 
solemnly  pronounced  sentence  against  him  in 
words  much  like  these  :  "  We  therefore  declare  this  prince 
to  be  bound  because  of  his  sins,  and  cast  off  by  the  Lord 
and  deprived  of  all  honor  and  dignity.  All  who  have 
taken  the  oath  of  faithfulness  to  him,  we  free  from  such 
oath.  We  forbid  any  one  hereafter  to  obey  him  or  to 
look  upon  him  as  emperor  or  king."  Then  the  pope  and 
all  the  churchmen  there  present  took  candles  and  lighted 
them  and  afterward  extinguished  them  as  a  sign  that  the 
light  of  religion  was  removed  from  Frederick  and  that 
he  must  thereafter  dwell  alone  in  darkness  of  soul.  This 
action  of  the  pope  was  called  "excommunication." 

It  was  a  sad  thing  for  ordinary  people,  when  the  two 


HOW  GERMANY  AND   FRANCE   BEGAN  171 

rulers  of  the  world  were  enemies.  Many  a  one  wept  in 
that  assembly  where  the  pope  spoke.  One  man  cried, 
"  Remember  that  the  pillars  which  uphold  the  world  are 
two:  the  one  the  pope,  the  other  the  emperor."  What 
would  happen  if  one  of  them  should  fall?  How  could 
men  know  to  which  to  cling  ?  Some  went  to  one  side,  and 
some  to  the  other. 

On  the  pope's  side  were  the  Lombard l  cities  of  northern 
Italy.  These  cities  were  ,rich  and  proud  and  strong. 
They  traced  their  history  back  to  old  Roman 

Cities 

times.  They  hated  tyrants  and  kings  and  ofItaly 
big  states.  Each  town  liked  to  choose  its  own 
ruler,  make  its  own  laws,  coin  its  own  money,  carry  on 
its  own  wars  in  its  own  way.  Every  one  looked  with 
dislike  and  fear  upon  a  strong  emperor,  a  man  who 
claimed  Italian  cities  as  mere  little  corners  of  a  great 
empire  for  which  he  made  the  laws,  coined  the  money, 
declared  the  wars,  collected  the  taxes,  appointed  the 
1  officers.  So  they  banded  together,  with  the  pope  to 
encourage  and  help  them,  raised  their  armies,  and  made 
ready  for  war. 

A  terrible  war  it  was!  There  were  cruel  sieges  of 
those  fine  old  towns.  Around  one  brave  city  Frederick's 
captain  cut  down  orchards  and  burned  fields  and  houses  so 
that  people  had  to  live  in  caves,  and  many  died  of  starva- 
tion. An  Italian  writer  says  that  for  all  the  years  of 
that  long  war  men  could  neither  plow  nor  sow  nor  reap 
nor  till  vineyards  nor  gather  the  vintage  nor  dwell  in 
villages.  But  close  to  the  city  walls  men  tilled  the  fields 
under  guard  of  their  own  soldiers,  who  protected  them 
at  their  work  all  day ;  for  so  it  must  needs  be  by  reason 
of  the  ruffians  and  bandits  and  robbers.  And  evils  were 
multiplied  upon  the  earth,  and  the  wild  beasts  increased 

lSee  page  152. 


172  THE   NEWER  NATIONS 

beyond  all  measure.  The  wolves  gathered  together  in 
mighty  multitudes  round  the  city  moats,  howling  dis- 
mally, and  they  crept  into  the  cities  by  night  and  de- 
voured men  and  women  and  children  who  had  come  in 
from  the  villages  and  were  sleeping  under  the  porticoes 
or  in  wagons.  There  were  many  years  of  this  Lom- 
bard war.  A  whole  book  could  not  tell  all  the  brave 
and  cruel  things  that  were  done  on  both  sides  and  all  the 
suffering  and  burning  and  destroying  that  came  in  its 
train. 

As  the  years  went  on,  the  pope  and  the  emperor  grew 
more  and  more  bitter  against  each  other.     They  flooded 
Europe  with  letters  accusing  each  other  of  a 
Fails  hundred  wrong  deeds.     People  began  to  whis- 

per evil  things  of  the  emperor.  Many  thought 
him  a  wicked  man  and  fell  away  from  him.  Twice  there 
were  plots  to  poison  him.  The  princes  of  Germany, 
urged  on  by  the  pope,  even  chose  a  new  king. 

All  this  unkindness  and  misfortune  soured  Frederick's 
good  nature,  and  he  became  harsh  and  bitter  and  scornful.  - 
When  he  heard  that  the  pope  had  excommunicated  him 
for  the  fourth  time,  "he  burst  into  a  violent  rage,"  says 
Matthew  Paris,  "and  darting  a  scornful  look  on  those 
who  sat  around  him,  he  thundered  forth  .  .  .  'Where  are 
my  cases  which  contain  my  portable  treasures  ? '  And  on 
their  being  brought  and  unlocked  before  him  by  his  order, 
he  said,  'See  if  my  crowns  are  lost,  now.'  Then  finding 
one,  he  placed  it  on  his  head,  and  being  thus  crowned 
he  stood  up,  and  with  threatening  eyes  and  a  dreadful 
voice  ...  he  said  aloud,  '  I  have  not  yet  lost 
my  crown,  nor  will  I  be  deprived  of  it  .  .  . 
without  a  bloody  struggle.'"  Before  that  bloody  strug- 
gle was  ended,  he  died  there  in  Italy  with  defeat  about 
him. 


HOW  GERMANY  AND  FRANCE  BEGAN     173 

For  two  hundred  years  the  popes  had  striven  against 
the  emperors.  They  had  encouraged  the  Lombard 
cities  to  rebel.  They  had  tried  to  make  the 
other  kings  of  Europe  enemies  of  the  empire.  By^^p 
They  had  stirred  up  the  German  people  to 
rebellion.  This  failure  of  Frederick's  was  the  end :  the 
popes  were  victorious.  The  empire  was  in  ruins.  Italy 
was  lost  to  it.  Sicily  the  pope  himself  gave  to  a  French- 
man. Germany  was  a  camp  of  quarreling  great  dukes 
with  no  one  strong  enough  to  lead  them. 

It  would  have  needed  all  Frederick's  time  to  hold  these 
princes  under  and  to  bind  them  into  a  nation.  But  he 
had  spent  very  little  time  in  Germany.  He  had  been  in. 
Italy,  in  Sicily,  in  Jerusalem,  and  had  left  the  rule  of  the 
Germans  to  his  son  or  to  some  other  assistant.  And  the 
nobles  had  kept  up  their  old  proud,  quarrelsome  habits. 
Indeed,  Frederick  himself  had  helped  to  increase  their 
pride  and  their  strength.  He  had  bribed  them  in  order 
to  get  their  aid  against  Italy  and  the  pope.  He  had 
allowed  each  duke  to  make  his  own  laws,  hold  his  own 
courts,  coin  his  own  money,  make  his  own  wars,  almost  as 
though  he  had  been  an  independent  king.  After  Fred- 
erick's time  there  grew  up  a  ruler  of  Saxony,  a  ruler  of 
Bavaria,  a  ruler  of  Prussia,  Grand  Duke  this  and  Grand 
Duke  that.  Germany  was  again  in  pieces,  and  Italy, 
also,  was  breaking  up  into  little  city-states,  —  beautiful, 
brilliant,  rich,  proud,  jealous.  It  was  six  hundred  years, 
moreover,  before  either  Germany  or  Italy  became  a  united 

nation. 

France 

Let  us  go  back  to  West  Frankland  at  the  time  just 
following  Charlemagne's  death.     You  remem- 
ber    that  this   great   man's    descendants   had 
no  large  idea  of  the  duty  of  an  emperor  or  of  the  mean- 


174  THE   NEWER  NATIONS 

ing  and  value  of  a  wide  empire.1  Therefore,  they  cut 
the  empire  up  into  three  states.  The  rulers  of  West 
Frankland,  like  those  of  East  Frankland,  were  weak 
men,  unable  to  control  their  strong  nobles,  unable  to 
keep  out  the  Vikings  who  were  attacking  the  coast.2  And 
so  in  West  Frankland,  just  as  in  East  Frank- 

The 

Nobles        land,  great  lords  built  castles  and  filled  them 

with  bold  fighting  men,  sworn  to  serve  them.3 

It  mattered  little  to  such  men  what  weakling  descendant 

of  Charlemagne  in  some  distant  corner  of  the  country 

wore  a  shadowy  crown  and  called  himself  king.     Yet  a 

king  there  must  be,  for  some  reason.     So  the 

great  nobles  of  West  Frankland  came  together, 

deposed  the  useless  descendant  of  Charlemagne,  and  chose 

one  of  themselves  to  wear  the  crown. 

That  name  of  king,  however,  meant  very  little.  There 
was  many  a  duke  and  count  who  had  more  land,  more 
wealth,  more  castles,  more  soldiers,  than  the  king. 
These  great  lords  made  their  own  laws,  fought  their  own 
wars,  collected  their  own  moneys,  each  in  his  own  ter- 
ritory. They  themselves  felt  like  kings  and  were  unwill- 
ing to  bow  to  another. 

The  king  of  the  Franks  was  also  duke  of  a  territory 
which  his  family  had  owned  for  many  generations,  the 
dukedom  of  France.  Here  the  king  (who  was  also  duke) 
was  reverenced  and  obeyed.  But  if  he  moved  out  of  his 
own  dukedom  into  the  land  of  his  neighbors,  he  had  to  do 
it  at  the  head  of  an  army.  Rarely  did  a  nobleman  loyally 
open  his  gates  and  hospitably  entertain  his  ruler.  The 
royal  army  had  to  force  open  the  gates  and  carry  the  king 
in.  Nor  did  the  neighboring  counts  and  dukes  often 
supply  money  for  his  expenses.  He  must  get  that  from 
his  own  dukedom. 

Seepage  161.  2See  page  160.  8See  page  163. 


HOW  GERMANY  AND  FRANCE  BEGAN 


175 


But  the  nobles  had  chosen  a  clever  family  to  wear  the 
crown  —  the    Capetians,    people     call    them. 
Father  and  son  through  three  hundred  years,  £he  . 
this  family  toiled  to  unite  France  and  to  make  -pamiiy 
the  French  king  a  power.      Their  first  move 
was  to  get  more  lands  for  themselves.     For  if  a  king  of 
the  Franks,  besides  being  duke  of  France,  became  also  a 
count  of  Vermandois  and  duke 
of  Normandy,  he  got  with  that 
land    faithful     subjects    who 
would  be  likely   to  obey   his 
laws,  serve  him  in  battle,  and 
supply  him  with  money.     The 
kings   gained   these   lands    in 
different    ways.       Sometimes 
they  married  their  sons  to  the 
daughters  of  great  counts  and 
so  brought  the  property  into 
the  family.     Once  a  king  even 
bought  a  dukedom.     They  oc- 
casionally fought  for  one  and 
conquered    it.     Sometimes    a 
duke   died   without   any  chil- 
dren to  inherit  his  possessions. 
Then  the  king  rightfully  took 
them. 

In  all  these  ways  the  Cape- 
tians kept  gathering  in  territory  until  they  owned  more 
than  half  of  France.  As  the  king's  lands  grew,  his  power 
grew.  As  his  power  grew,  his  laws  spread  over  the 
country,  and  loyalty  increased.  The  great  nobles  had  to 
respect  the  king  and  obey  him.  Men  began  to  turn  their 
faces  away  from  this  and  that  castle  and  to  look  toward 
the  king's  city  of  Paris  as  the  capital  of  the  land.     In 


A  King  of  the  Franks  on 
His  Carved  Chair 


176  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

fact,  the  nation  of  France  was  made  at  last  —  pieced  to- 
gether out  of  old  warring  dukedoms  and  counties. 

One  of  the  kings  who  did  much  for  this  growing  France 
was  Louis  IX.  His  grandfather,  Philip,  had  built  up  a 
large  kingdom.  It  was  Louis'  work  to  make 
Louis  ix,  fogfc  kingdom  feei  like  a  nation,  to  strengthen 
AD  it   with   peace    and   prosperity,    to    teach   its 

people  to  live  according  to  law.  This  last 
thing  was  perhaps  the  hardest  and  the  most  nec- 
essary. In  Paris,  for  example,  things  had  come  to 
a  bad  pass.  "  Because  of  the  great  injustice  that  was 
done  and  the  great  robberies  .  .  .  ,"  writes  Joinville,  an 
officer  and  friend  of  King  Louis,  "poor  people  did  not 
dare  to  live  in  the  king's  land,  but  went  and  lived  in 
other  lordships.  .  .  .  The  king,  who  was  very  diligent  to 
inquire  how  the  people  were  governed  and  protected,  soon 
learned  the  truth  of  this  matter.  .  .  .  And  he  abolished 
all  the  evil  customs  that  were  hurtful  to  the  people,  and 
he  [found]  men  who  would  execute  good  and  strict  justice 
and  not  spare  the  rich  any  more  than  the  poor,"  and  he 
made  them  officers  in  the  city. 

After  that  "no  thief  nor  murderer  dared  to  remain  in 
Paris,  seeing  that  if  he  did  he  was  soon  hanged  or  killed. 
Neither  [great  name]  nor  gold  nor  silver  could  save  him. 
So  the  king's  land  began  to  improve,  and  people  came 
there  to  live  for  the  good  justice  that  was  done  there. 
Ofttimes  it  happened  that  the  king  would  go,  after 
mass,  and  seat  himself  in  the  wood  of  Vincennes  and  lean 
against  an  oak  and  make  us  sit  round  him.  And  all 
those  who  had  any  cause  in  hand  came  and  spoke  to  him 
without  hindrance  of  usher  or  cf  any  other  person.  Then 
would  the  king  ask  out  of  his  own  mouth,  'Is  there  any 
who  has  a  cause  in  hand?'  And  those  who  had  a  cause 
in  hand  stood  up.     Then  would  he  say,  'Keep  silence, 


HOW   GERMANY  AND  FRANCE  BEGAN  177 

all,    and   you    shall   be  heard   in  turn,    one    after  the 
other.'" 

But  the  king  could  not  hear  all  cases,  even  in  one  city. 
He  had  lawyers  and  councilors  about  him.  Some  of 
these  he  sent  to  "hear  pleadings  at  the  gate 
[of  .Paris]  which  is  now  called  'The  Gate  of  officers^8 
Requests/"  Joinville  says.  "And  when  he 
came  back  from  church,  he  would  send  for  us  and  sit  at 
the  foot  of  his  bed,  and  make  us  all  sit  round  him,  and  ask 
if  there  were  any  whose  cases  [we  could  not  settle.  And 
if  we  named  any,]  he  would  send  for  them  and  would  settle 
the  matters  himself."  Into  the  other  parts  of  France, 
also,  he  sent  judges  to  hear  cases  and  other  officers  to 
carry  out  the  laws.  And  he  made  strict  rules  somewhat 
after  this  style  to  govern  these  officers.  "We,  Louis, 
by  the  grace  of  God,  King  of  France,  ordain  that  our 
bailiffs,  viscounts,  provosts,  mayors,  and  all  others, 
whatsoever  office  they  may  hold,  shall  make  oath  that,  so 
long  as  they  hold  the  said  office,  they  shall  do  justice  to 
all,  as  well  to  the  poor  as  to  the  rich  and  to  strangers  as 
to  those  who  are  native-born ;  and  that  they  shall  observe 
such  uses  and  customs  as  are  good  and  have  been  approved. 
And  if  they  do  aught  contrary  to  their  oaths  and  are 
convicted  thereof,  we  order  that  they  be  punished  in 
their  goods  or  in  their  persons."  In  such  ways  did  the 
king  try  to  make  honest  officers  and  to  give  all  the  people 
of  France  fair  treatment  and  the  protection  of  law. 

Moreover  he  was  a  great  peacemaker  in  that  age  when 
men  liked  to  fight.     He  thought  it  a  sad  spec- 
tacle  to  see  "  two  kingdoms  gnaw  each  other  L0UiS> 
at  the  prompting  of  the  devil,"  and  "pillage  standing 
and  slay  each  other."     He  tried  to  settle  by  inthe 
peaceful   agreement  the  quarrels   between  his 
hot-blooded  nobles.     And  he  was  often  called  upon  to  act 


i78 


THE   NEWER  NATIONS 


as  peacemaker  between  rulers ;  for  he  was  respected  and 
loved  throughout  Europe.  He  received  foreign  kings  in 
his  palace  at  Paris,  and  he  sat  in  the  most  honorable  seat 
among  them.  His  advice  was  sought  by  the  pope,  the 
emperor  of  Germany,  and  the  king  of  England.  Matthew 
Paris,  the  English  writer,  calls  King 
Louis  "the  king  of  all  earthly  kings 
on  account  of  [his  holiness]  as  also 
on  account  of  his  power  and  his  emi- 
nence in  chivalry. " 

This  compliment,  paid  by  a  for- 
eigner, shows  what  the  French  kings 
had  accomplished  in  two  hundred 
years.  The  king  of  France  was  no 
longer  a  mere  crowned  duke  among 
many  dukes  as  powerful  as  himself. 
Now  when  he  moved  through  the 
country,  farming  people  left  their 
fields  and  lined  the  roads  to  gaze  at 
him  and  to  huzzah.  Cities  opened 
their  gates  and  decked  themselves  in 
his  honor.  When  he  needed  an  army, 
the  nobles  loyally  came  riding  to  him  at  the  head  of  their 
knights.  When  he  sat  down  to  table,  great  counts  and 
dukes  carved  the  meat  and  served  the  plate,  and  knights 
in  tunic*  of  silken  cloth  stood  on  guard.  Once  when  he 
held  court,  so  many  men  came  flocking  to  serve  him  that 
"many  said,"  so  Joinville  writes,  "they  had  never,  at  any 
feast,  seen  together  so  many  surcoats  and  other  garments 
of  cloth  of  gold  and  of  silk ;  and  it  was  said  that  no  less 
than  three  thousand  knights  were  there  present." 

King  Louis  was  mild  and  gentle  of  soul,  fair  and  delicate 
of  body,  and  very  lovable.  His  kindness  and  courtesy 
won  him  friends  wherever  he  went.     Moreover  he  was 


St.  Louis 


HOW  GERMANY  AND  FRANCE  BEGAN  179 

very  honorable  in  keeping  his  promises.  He  was  enter- 
taining, too,  and  liked  pleasant  talk  with  his  friends. 
He  said  it  was  better  than  any  book.  He  was  very 
religious,  going  to  mass  every  day,  giving  alms  daily  to 
the  poor  and  washing  their  feet,  building  churches  and 
monasteries,  asking  God's  help  and  counsel  upon  all 
occasions. 

Just  before  his  death  Louis  called  to  him  his  son  and 
advised  him  how  to  live.  What  he  said  then  shows  the 
kind  of  man  he  was ;   for  he  himself  had  lived  .  ~ 

;  .  1270  A.D. 

according  to  the  same  rules  he  laid  down  for  King 
his  son.     "Fair  son/'  he  said,   "keep  thyself  Louis' 
from    doing    aught    that    is    displeasing    to  ^?vl^e  t0 
God.  ...     If  God  send  thee  adversity,  receive 
it    in  patience,  ...  if   He   send   thee  prosperity,   then 
thank  Him  humbly.  .  .  .     Let  thy  heart  be  full  of  pity 
toward  those  who   are  poor,   miserable,   and   afflicted; 
comfort  and  help  them  to  the  utmost  of  thy  power. 
Maintain  the  good  customs  of  thy  land  and  abolish  the 
bad.  .  .  .     Do  not  burden  [thy  people]  with  taxes  save 
when  thou  art  in  great  need.  .  .  .     See  that  thou  hast 
in  thy  company  men  .  .  .  who  are  right  worthy  and  loyal, 
and  fly  the  company  of  the  wicked.  .  .  .     Beware  of 
undertaking  war  against  any  Christian  prince  without 
great    deliberation.  ...     If    wars    and    quarrels    arise 
among  thy  subjects,  see  that  thou  end  them  as  soon  as 
thou  art  able.  .  .  .     God  give  thee  grace  to  do  His  will 
always,  so  that  He  be  honored  in  thee  and  that  thou  and 
I  may  both,  after  this  mortal  life  is  ended,  be  with  Him 
together  and  praise  Him  everlastingly.     Amen." 

For  all  his  virtues  the  church  declared  the  king  a  saint 
after  his  death,  and  many  people  in  their  prayers  still 
ask  St.  Louis  to  intercede  for  them. 

While  Germany  was  growing  more  broken  and  dis- 


180  THE   NEWER  NATIONS 

united,  France,  under  this  good  king,  was  well  started 
on  the  path  toward  national  unity  and  kingly  strength. 
She  continued  in  that  way  for  hundreds  of  years,  becom- 
ing a  powerful,  wealthy,  cultured  nation. 


1.  Which  is  better,  a  large  country  under  one  government  or 
several  small  countries?  2.  What  advice  do  you  think  some  wise 
old  man  might  have  given  Frederick  II  that  would  have  kept 
Germany  united?  3.  Make  a  play  in  which  people  come  before 
King  Louis  with  complaints,  and  he  makes  wise  decisions.  4.  Would 
the  study  of  Roman  law  be  favorable  or  unfavorable  to  strong  mon- 
archies ?  (See  pages  135-139.)  5.  Find  out  when  the  present  kingdom 
of  Italy  began ;  the  present  German  empire. 


CHAPTER  IX 
HOW  ENGLAND  BEGAN 

In  ancient  times,  you  remember,  Britain  had  belonged 
to  the  Roman  empire.1  Roman  governors  had  ruled  it 
and  Romanized  it ;  Roman  legions  had  held 
it.  But  as  the  empire  had  grown  weak,  she 
had  needed  all  her  legions  nearer  the  center.  When 
Alaric  had  stormed  Rome,2  the  British  legions  had  been 
called  to  fightf  on  the  continent,  and  Roman  Britain  had 
been  left  undefended.  Immediately  the  barbarians  to 
the  north,  the  Picts  whom  Rome  had  not  been  able  to 
conquer,  had  begun  to  make  raids  into  Britain. 

The  Angles  and  Saxons  Take  Britain 

At  that  time,  long  before  the  days  of  Charlemagne, 
when  Adolf  and  the  Goths  were  settling  in  Spain  and 
Gaul,3  and  the  Franks  were  spreading  west  and  south,4 
other  German  tribes,  called  Jutes  and  Angles  and  Saxons, 
lived  across  the  narrow  sea  to  the  east  of  Britain.  They 
were  warriors  and  pirates.  A  Roman  poet  sang  about 
them:  "Foes  are  they  fierce  beyond  other  foes  and 
cunning  as  they  are  fierce.  The  sea  is  their  school  of 
war,  and  the  storm  their  friend.  They  are  sea  wolves 
that  prey  on  the  pillage  of  the  world." 

They  loved  danger  and  the  fight.  In  an,  old  Anglo- 
Saxon  poem  the  hero,  Beowulf,  says,  "Ever  would  I  be 
in  advance  in  the  host,  alone  at  the  front,  and  so  shall  I, 

1  See  page  120.  *  See  page  148. 

2  See  page  147.  *  See  pages  149-150. 

181 


182 


THE  NEWER  NATIONS 


while  life  last,  make  fight,  so  long  as  the  sword  endureth, 
that  oft  early  and  late  hath  served  me."  In  long  ships 
of  many  oars  and  with  a  single  sail,  these  lovers  of  war, 

of  the  sea,  of  plunder,  sailed 
out,  as  the  Vikings  did  in 
later  days,1  after  riches  and 
adventure. 

To  these  warrior  peoples, 

according  to  an  old  tradition, 

the    British     king 


The 
Angles 


turned 


and  Saxons   against 

Come  into    ^here    is 

England 


A  Saxon  Warrior 


for    help 

his    foes. 

an    old 

book     called     the 

Anglo-Saxon   Chronicle.     It 

is  a  sort  of  diary  of  the  early 

English  people.      Here    are 

some  jottings  from  it :  a.d. 

449.      Hengist    and    Horsa, 

An  ornamented  wooden  shield   with  invited    by    the    king    of    the 

an  iron  boss.     An  iron  helmet  with  a  Britons     to       his      assistance, 

short  nose  guard.     A  tunic  with  long  ...                          . 

sleeves.      Some    kind  of  armor  over  landed  in  Britain.       The  king 

this,  perhaps  of  leather.     Leg  wrap-  v         ,     j  ,  ■»                 n    tj                  a 

pings  instead  of  hose  directed  them  to  fight  against 

the  Picts,  and  they  did  so 
and  obtained  the  victory  wheresoever  they  came.  They 
then  sent  to  the  Angles  at  home  and  desired  them  to 
The  send    more    assistance.      They    described    the 

Angio-  worthlessness  of  the  Britons  and  the  richness 
Saxon  0f  the  land.  Then  came  the  men  from  three 
Victories  p0wers  0f  Germany  —  the  old  Saxons,  Angles, 
and  Jutes.  [They  had  decided  to  have  this  land  for 
their  own,  you  see.] 
a.d.  455.    This  year  Hengist  and  Horsa  fought  with 

1  See  page  158. 


HOW  ENGLAND  BEGAN  183 

the  king  of  the  Britons.  Horsa  was  slain,  but  Hengist 
and  his  son  Esc  took  the  kingdom. 

a.d.  473.  This  year  Hengist  and  Esc  fought  with  the 
British  and  took  immense  booty.  And  the  British  fled 
from  the  Angles  like  fire. 

[The  news  of  these  successes  went  back  to  the  Angles 
and  Saxons  at  home  and  tempted  others  across  the  narrow 
sea.] 

a.d.  477.  This  year  came  Ella  to  Britain  with  his 
three  sons  in  three  ships.  There  they  slew  many  of  the 
Britons  and  some  in  flight  they  drove  into  a  wood. 

a.d.  495.  This  year  came  two  leaders  into  Britain, 
Cerdic  and  Cynric  his  son,. with  five  ships.  They  fought 
with  the  British  the  same  day. 

a.d.  501.  This  year  Porta  and  his  two  sons  came  into 
Britain  with  two  ships. 

So  it  goes.  It  is  evident  that  hardly  a  year  passed  that 
a  few  ships,  full  of  fighting  Germans,  did  not  land  here  and 
there  on  the  British  coast.  Probably  they  were  beaten 
sometimes,  but  their  proud  descendants  when  they  wrote 
the  Chronicle  did  not  tell  of  their  defeats.  And  certainly 
they  won  more  often  than  they  lost. 

It  is  a  strange,  long,  slow  story,  this  German  conquest 
of  Britain.  Probably  the  Britons  did  not  realize  that 
they  were  actually  losing  their  country.  In  some  little 
corner  of  the  coast  a  few  shiploads  of  the  dreaded  pirates 
landed,  dragged  their  low  ships  upon  the  sand,  pulled 
out  their  long,  two-handed  swords,  and  advanced  upon 
the  surprised  farmers  and  villagers.  The  Britons,  with 
wives  and  children  to  save,  fled  inland  to  friends  and 
kinsfolk.  The  Germans  took  possession  of  the  deserted 
houses  and  fields  and  sent  back  home  for  their  families. 
All  along  the  southern  and  eastern  shores  of  Britain  little 
settlements  of  this  sort  were  being  made  year  after  year. 


1 84 


THE  NEWER  NATIONS 


Yet,  doubtless,  the  Britons  felt  fairly  safe  in  their  wide 

land. 

But  these  Germans  were  eager,   ambitious  folk  and 

were  not  content  with  little  spots  of  ground.     As  more 

of  them  kept  coming,  they 
spread  inland  and  con- 
tinued to  push  the  Britons 
slowly  backward.  There 
are  many  such  entries  as 
this  in  the  Chronicle  :  "  a.d. 
571.  This  year  Cuthulf 
fought  with  the  Britons  at 
Bedford  and  took  four 
towns.  .  .  .  a.d.  577. 
This  year  Cuthwin  and 
Ceawlin  fought  with   the 

Saxon  Horsemen  Britons     and     slew     three 

Evidently  the  horses  are  shod  kjngg    _    #    an^  took  from 

them  three  cities.  ...  a.d.  591.  This  year  there  was 
a  great  slaughter  of  Britons. " 

So  the  Germans  slowly  enslaved  the  earlier  people  or 
drove  them  back  and  after  about  400  years  had  all  of 
modern  England  for  their  own.  The  Britons  were 
mostly  cooped  up  in  Wales  and  Cornwall,  where  their 
descendants  still  live  to-day.  They  had  been  rather 
thoroughly  swept  off  their  own  land.  British  customs 
and  Roman  culture  were  gone  from  it.  It  was  German 
now.  Its  new  inhabitants  had  settled  down  for  all  time 
to  make  this  new  country  of  theirs  "  England." 

This  Anglo-Saxon  land  was  not  a  peaceful  place.  It 
was  a  great  battlefield  for  warlike  chiefs.  A  leader  who 
had  brought  over  a  few  shiploads  of  warriors  and  had 
won  a  piece  of  coast  felt  himself  the  independent  lord 
of  it.     His  son  after  him  enlarged  the  territory  and  called 


HOW  ENGLAND   BEGAN  185 

himself  king.     Sometimes  there  were  ten  or  twelve  sep- 
arate kingdoms  in  that  small  country.     Then, 
again,  one  man,  mighty  in  battle,  would  conquer  ^"S 
two  or  three  of  his  neighbors  and  unite  them  8^  ^ 
into  a  larger  kingdom.     Each  part  wpuld  keep 
its  own  ruler  as  under-king,  but  would  pay  tribute  and 
obedience  to  the   conqueror  as  overlord  or  head  king. 
Slowly  three  great  states  formed  themselves  out  of  all 
these  struggling  groups,  and  at  last  Egbert,  the  king  of 
one  of  them  and  a  pupil  of  Charlemagne 's,1  made  himself 
overlord  of  them  all. 

These  early  Anglo-Saxons  had  one  custom  that  is  of 
very  great  importance  to  us.     All  the  freemen  of  every 
village    or    township    met,    whenever    it    was 
necessary,  to  talk  over  village  business.     They  ^ngio- 
were  simple  farmers,  come  between  plowings  Moots 
and  harvestings.     They  met  in  the  open  air 
on  a  knoll  or  under  a  great  tree  sacred  to  the  god  Woden. 
A  priest  opened  the  meeting,  and  the  head  man  took 
charge.     These  farmers  brought  up  questions  that  needed 
settling.      A  newcomer  was  admitted  into  the  village, 
officers  were  chosen,  a  farmer  who  had  cut  hay  on  some 
other  man's  field  was  punished,  land  was  divided '  out 
among  the  villagers.     Every  man  at  that  meeting  had 
a  right  to  say  what  he  thought  and  to  vote  as  he  would 
upon  these  matters. 

But  this  assembly,  or  town-moot,  as  it  was  called, 
handled  only  the  small  business  of  the  village.  Once  a 
month  there  was  a  hundred-moot.  The  hundred  was  a 
collection  of  several  villages  that  were  neighbors.  To 
this  assembly  all  the  villages  sent  their  head  men  and 
four  representatives  each.  There  came,  besides,  the 
chiefs  of  the  hundred  and  their  warriors,     This  moot, 

lSee  page  156. 


1 86  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

also,  met  out  of  doors,  on  a  hilltop  or  under  the  trees. 
The  men  discussed  questions  that  had  to  do,  not  with 
the  village,  but  with  all  of  the  hundred. 

As  the  hundred   bound   together  several  villages,  so 
the  folk  or  tribe  bound  together  several  hundreds.     And 


The  House  of  Parliament  in  England  To-day 

as  the  hundred-moot  discussed  questions  too  large  for 
the  town-moot,  so  the  folk-moot  discussed  matters  that 
were'  of  importance  to  all  the  hundreds.  Here  came  to- 
gether all  the  chiefs  and  warriors  and  also  the  head  men 
and  four  representatives  from  the  simple  farmers  of  the 
village.  This  meeting,  too,  was  out  of  doors,  and  was 
opened  by  the  priest.  Here  great  crimes  were,  punished, 
war  was  declared  or  peace  made,  leaders  chosen.  This 
was  an  important  meeting,  and  only  the  most  important 
people  did  the  talking.  The  common  men  listened  and 
shouted  when  they  were  asked  to  vote  and  clashed  their 
swords  or  spears  against  their  shields.  For  this,  like 
Charlemagne's  assembly,1  was  a  meeting  of  the  army  as 

1  See  page  154. 


HOW  ENGLAND   BEGAN  187 

well  as  of  lawmakers,  and  often,  the  members  marched 
from  discussion  into  fight. 

When  several  tribes  had  been  made  into  a  kingdom, 
the  king  was  accustomed  to  call  together  the  chief 
men  from  all  the  folk-moots  to  give  him  advice.  This 
was  called  the  witenagemot,  or  meeting  of  the  wise 
men. 

England  has  been  called  "the  mother  of  parliaments"  : 
these  old  Anglo-Saxon  moots  of  rude  farmers  and  fierce 
warriors  were  her  first  children.  To-day  the  Parliament 
of  England  and  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  which 
meet  in  great  buildings  of  stone  to  discuss  the  needs  of 
the  country  and  to  make  laws  for  its  governing,  are  the 
descendants  of  that  little  outdoor  assembly  with  shouted 
vote  and  clashing  weapons. 

The  Reign  of  King  Alfred 

Egbert  had  conquered  the  English  people  in  war,  but 
he  had  not  been  able  to  unite  them  in  feeling.     They 
did   not   forget   old   memories.     The   men   of 
each    earlier    kingdom    clung    together    and  A7i901 
longed  for  old  times  and  their. old  kings.     Eg- 
bert's  grandson,    Alfred,   inherited  the  rule   over  these 
dissatisfied  people.      After   a  reign  of    thirty'  years  he 
left  the  country  united  and*  the  English  proud  of  their 
land. 

One  thing  which  helped  to  accomplish  this  great  change 
was  the  lovable  nature  of  Alfred  himself.    Asser, 
his  friend  and  one  of  his  bishops,1  wrote  of  him,  T^J 
"He  was  wonderfully  kind  toward  all  men  and 
very  merry."     He  was  gentle  and  humble,  not  haughty, 

1  Long  before  Alfred's  time  Christian  missionaries  had  come  into  England. 
Slowly,  family  by  family,  kingdom  by  kingdom,  they  had  converted  the  country 
and  had  built  churches  and  monasteries.  Alfred  was  born  a  Christian  and  ruled 
a  Christian  land.     (See  pages  297-298.) 


1 88  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

as  some  kings  are.  He  was  very  religious,  rising  in  the 
night  to  go  alone  to  his  chapel  for  prayer. 

He  loved  the  poor.  "  On  their  behalf,  among  all  his  du- 
ties," writes  Bishop  Asser,  "he  was  wonderfully  thought- 
ful day  and  night.  .  .  .  And  in  judgment  he  sought 
earnestly  the  good  of  his  people  both  high  and  low."  In- 
deed, his  heart  was  full  of  love  for  all  men,  and  they  loved 
him  in  return.  Many  old  English  sayings  call  him  "Eng- 
land's darling,"  "England's  shepherd,"  "Good  King 
Alfred."  After  his  time  "king"  meant  a  different  thing 
to  Englishmen  from  what  it  had  meant  in  the  old  days 
of  ambition  and  unending  war.  It  meant  a  strong,  wise, 
loving  man,  who  labored  for  the  good  of  his  whole  people. 

Besides  loving  the  memory  of  the  man  himself,  for 

hundreds  of  years  Englishmen  looked  to  the  "laws  of 

King  Alfred"  as  the  safeguard  of  their  liberty. 

Alfreds       Before  his  time  few  laws  had  been  written 

Laws 

down,  but  men  had  remembered  what  their 
fathers  had  done  and  called  that  the  law.  Alfred  had 
these  old  traditions  written,  chose  what  he  thought  the 
best  from  the  recorded  laws  of  the  earlier  kings,  and 
added  a  few  new  rules  of  his  own  making.  In  the  preface 
to  this  body  of  law  the  modest  king  says:  "I,  then, 
Alfred,  king,  gathered  these  [laws]  together  and  com- 
manded many  of  those  to  be  written  which  our  forefathers 
held,  those  which  seemed  to  me  good ;  and  many  of  those 
which  seemed  to  me  not  good  I  rejected  them,  by  the 
counsel  of  my  'witan.'  ...  I  durst  not  venture  to  set 
down  in  writing  many  of  my  own ;  for  I  could  not  know 
what  would  please  those  who  should  come  after  us." 

Yet  some  of  these  laws,  because  of  their  kindness, 
sound  as  though  he  must  have  made  them.  "Judge 
thou  very  evenly ;  judge  thou  not  one  doom  to  the  rich, 
another  to  the  poor;   nor  one  to  thy  friend,  another  to 


HOW  ENGLAND   BEGAN  189 

thy  foe,  judge  thou.  .  .  .  Vex  thou  not  comers  from  afar 
and  strangers.  .  .  .  Injure  ye  not  the  widows  and  step- 
children nor  hurt  them  anywhere  :  for  if  ye  do  otherwise, 
they  will  cry  unto  me,  and  I  will  hear  them,  and  I  will 
then  slay  you  with  my  sword ;  and  I  will  so  do  that  your 
wives  shall  be  widows  and  your  children  shall  be  step- 
children." 

Even  in  the  laws  of  this  gentle  king,  however,  we 
find  some  things  to  remind  us  that,  after  all,  he  lived  a 
thousand  years  ago  and  that  men  have  grown  a  little 
wiser  and  kinder  since  then.  For  example,  some  men 
were  slaves  in  that  day,  and  even  King  Alfred  did  not 
think  it  wrong.  In  one  of  his  laws  he  speaks  of  a  father's 
selling  his  daughter  as  a  slave,  but  only  to  say,  "He 
ought  not  sell  her  away  among  a  strange  folk."  And 
when  we  see  even  this  kind  man  freely  dealing  out  the 
death  penalty  and  cruel  punishments,  we  realize  that  he 
lived  in  a  time  of  fierce  warfare  and  bloodshed.  "He 
who  smiteth  his  father  or  his  mother,"  he  writes,  "he 
shall  perish  by  death  ...  if  any  one  thrust  out  another's 
eye,  let  him  give  his  own  for  it ;  tooth  for  tooth,  hand 
for  hand,  foot  for  foot,  burning  for  burning,  wound  for 
wound,  stripe  for  stripe." 

Like  Charlemagne,  Alfred  was  a  lover  of  knowledge. 
His  mind  was  open  to  learn  from  any  one  having  infor- 
mation. He  listened  greedily  to  the  stories  of  sailors  and 
travelers,  that  he  might  know  something  of  foreign  lands. 
He  kept  a  note-book  in  his  bosom  and  jotted  down  inter- 
esting things  that  he  heard  or  saw  or  thought.  He  was, 
besides,  an  inventor,  and  he  could  draw  designs  and 
instruct  goldsmiths  how  to  work.  He  knew  how  to  train 
dogs  and  falcons  for  the  hunt.  He  loved  the  poems  of 
his  country,  and  many  of  them  he  learned  by  heart,  and 
sang  them  to  the  lyre. 


ipo  THE   NEWER  NATIONS 

With  much  labor,  after  he  was  a  grown  man,  he  learned 
to  read  and  write  both  the  Anglo-Saxon  language,  which 
the  common  people  spoke,  and  Latin,  the 
L  arnin  language  of  books  and  learned  men.  He  was 
a  great  lover  of  reading.  "Day  and  night," 
says  Asser,  "  whenever  he  had  any  leisure,  he  commanded 
men  to  read  books  before  him,  nor  would  he  ever  suffer 
himself  to  be  without  one  of  them."  Many  of  these 
books  that  he  loved  were  in  Latin;  for  although  the 
Romans  had  long  been  gone  from  Britain,1  and  the  Roman 
empire  had  disappeared,  yet  people  had  so  formed  the 
habit  of  using  Latin,  the  tongue  of  the  world's  rulers, 
that  it  continued  to  be  the  language  of  writers  and  of  all 
learned  men. 

But  most  of  Alfred's  people  were  uneducated,  did  not 
know  Latin,  and  could  not  read  those  good  books  that 
he  loved.  So  he  translated  several  of  them  into  the 
common  speech.  In  one  of  them  he  says,  "Long  and 
much  I  [wished]  to  teach  my  people  then  these  mixed  say- 
ings of  sweet  speech."  In  another  he  mourns  because 
Englishmen  have  become  so  ignorant,  and  he  hopes  by 
translating  good  books  to  instruct  his  countrymen.  He 
established  schools,  too,  where  he  hoped  that  "all  the 
free-born  youth  of  the  land  might  persevere  in  learning." 
And  Asser  says  that  it  came  to  be  true  that  many  an  old 
man  of  that  day  "would  command  his  son  to  read  Saxon 
books  to  him  day  and  night  whenever  he  had  any  leisure. 
And,  sighing  greatly  from  the  bottom  of  his  heart,  he 
mourned  because  in  his  youth  he  had  not  devoted  him- 
self to  such  studies." 

Another  thing  that  helped  to  weld  all  the  men  of 
England  into  an  English  people  was  their  war  with 
the  Danes,  Vikings  of  the  same  sort  as  were  attacking 

Seepage  181. 


HOW  ENGLAND   BEGAN  191 

Charlemagne's  empire.1    These  men  were  also  much  like 
the  Angles   and   Saxons   of   earlier  times  and 
swarmed   across  the  narrow  sea  as  they  had  ^he. 
done.      They  landed  from  the   same  sort   of  invasion 
boats  and  with   the   same  kind  of   fierceness 
drove  the  inhabitants   before  them.     In  the  same  way 
they  settled  upon  the  land  and  began  to  spread  out  and 
push  the  English  back. 

By  Alfred's  time  these  Danish  raids  were  an  old  story. 
They  had  been  going  on  for  many  years,  and  there  had 
been  continuous  warfare.  Towns  lay  burned  and  empty, 
farms  lay  neglected  and  grown  to  weeds,  monasteries 
stood  ruined  and  deserted.  Alfred  saw  the  need  of 
peace.  The  nation  must  rest.  Farms  must  be  tended, 
and  granaries  filled.  Children  must  be  educated.  Roads 
must  be  built.  An  army  must  be  planned  so  that  every 
man  should  do  his  share  of  his  country's  fighting  and 
should  yet  have  time  to  do  his  own  work. 

So  the  king  made  peace  with  the  Danes  and  allowed 
them  to  settle  in  a  great  stretch  of  eastern  England.  He 
permitted  their  own  king  to  rule  them,  and 
yet  Alfred  was  their  overlord.  He  helped  to 
make  their  laws,  he  sent  Christian  priests  among  them, 
and  in  every  way  he  treated  them  like  his  own  English- 
men. It  was  not  many  years,  therefore,  until  the  Danes 
were  as  English  as  their  neighbors.  They  spoke  the 
same  language,  worshiped  the  same  God,  obeyed  the 
same  laws,  loved  the  same  country.  They  intermarried 
with  Angles  and  Saxons,  and  many  an  Englishman  to-day 
has  the  blood  of  Danish  Vikings  in  his  veins. 

Bishop  Asser  gives  us  an  idea  of  what  Alfred  accom- 
plished in  his  long  reign.  He  writes:  "And  what  shall 
I  say  of  his  many  wars   against  the  pagans    [that  is, 

1See  page  157. 


192  THE   NEWER  NATIONS 

the  Danes]  and  of  his  battles  and  of  the  never-ending 
care  of  ruling  his  kingdom?  What  shall  I  say  of  the 
^^  cities  and  towns  which  he  restored  and  of  the 

Alfred  others  which  he  built  where  before  there  had 
Accom-  never  been  any?  Or  of  the  work  in  gold  and 
pls  e  silver,  incomparably  made  under  his  direction? 

Or  of  the  halls  and  royal  chambers  wonderfully  made  of 
stone  and  wood  by  his  command  ?  .  .  .  As  a  master  pilot 
strives  to  bring  his  ship,  filled  with  many  riches,  to  the 
safe  haven  of  his  native  land,  ...  so  the  king  permitted 
himself  neither  to  faint  nor  to  waver,  though  he  was  set 
amid  the  rough  waves  and  various  storms  of  this  present 
life." 

The  Norman  Conquest 

For  eighty  years  after  Alfred's  death  the  kingdom  that 
he  had  made  strong  continued  united.  But  then  a 
weak  king  lost  it  to  a  new  swarm  of  Danes.  In 
1066  yet  another  conqueror  entered  England.  This 
was  William  the  Norman,  a  descendant  of  one  of  those 
Viking  Northmen  who  had  long  before  plundered  Frank- 
land. 

This  ancestor,  Rolf  the  Ganger  (that  is,  "the  goer"), 
had  spent  all  his  fearless  life  in  fierce  raids  on  the  coasts 
of  England  and  Frankland.  He  had  burned  and  plun- 
dered, and  by  his  courage  had  won  the  headship  of 
Normandy  ms  band.  The  Frenchmen,  in  spite  of  their 
a  Great  bravery,  feared  him  and  at  last  bought  peace 
Viking  for  themselves  by  giving  him  a  wide  district 
emen  Qn  ^e  ge^ne  Here  he  anc[  his  warriors  settled 
down.  They  were  baptized  as  Christians.  They  changed 
their  names  t6  French  names.  They-  married  French 
wives.  Their  children  spoke  the  French  tongue,  wore 
French    clothes,    followed    French    customs;     and    the 


HOW  ENGLAND  BEGAN 


193 


descendants  of  Rolf,  the  Viking,  were  polished  French 
knights  and  rich  dukes  of  Normandy,  "  Northmen's  land." 

The     great-grandson     of     Rolf's     grandson  William  of 
was  a  powerful  man,  Duke  William.     An  old  Normandy 
writer  says  of  him,   "So   very  stern  was  he  Conquers 
and    hot    that    no    man    durst    do    anything     ngan 
against  his  will." 

This  stern  warrior   got   Normandy   and  her  knights 
thoroughly  under  his  control.     He  and  his  ancestors  had 


Norman  Snip 

From  an  old  piece  of  embroidery  called  the  Bayeux  tapestry.     Perhaps  King 

William's  queen  and  her  ladies  made  it.     It  is  200  feet  long  and  has  48  scenes. 

The  next  five  pictures,  also,  are  from  this  tapestry 

had  many  dealings  with  the  kings  of  England.  They 
had  exchanged  visits.  English  princes  had  even  been 
educated  at  the  Norman  court.  And  the  English  king 
of  Duke  William's  time  was  the  son  of  a  Norman  princess. 
When  William  was  a  young  man,  this  English  king  died, 
with  no  son  to  be  king  after  him.  Then  William,  his 
friend  and  distant  cousin,  decided  that  he  would  wear 
the  English  crown. 
But  Englishmen  had  the  fine  old  German  custom  of 


IQ4  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

choosing  their  own  king.1  They  would  have  none  of 
William.  They  elected  a  man  of  their  own  blood,  Saxon 
Harold,  big  and  blonde,  and  handsome  and  brave.  But 
in  spite  of  Harold's  courage  and  strength,  and  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  Englishmen  "  sacrificed  their  bodies  and 
poured  out  their  spirits  for  their  country,"  yet  Duke 
William  and  his  horsemen  and  archers  won  against  King 
Harold  and  his  footmen  and  bowmen.  Harold  was 
killed  in  the  first  great  fight,  the  battle  of  Hastings,  and 


Saxon  Foot-soldiers  and  Norman  Horsemen 

Notice  the  Saxon  battle-axes.     The  armor  is  made  of  metal  scales   sewed  on 

leather 

hundreds  of  dead  Englishmen  and  Normans  lay  on  the 
field.  The  English  hope  was  gone.  A  few  weeks  after 
the  battle,  the  same  council  that  had  elected  Harold 
king  elected  William  with  great  shouting,  and  the  same 
bishop  that  had  crowned  Harold  now  blessed  William 
and  put  the  crown  upon  his  head. 

Then  began  for  England  a  stern  rule  of  twenty-one 
years.  Many  men  who  had  not  fought  in  that  first 
battle  were  unwilling  to  submit,  and  the  king  had  to 
lead  his  army  about  through  England,  putting  down 
revolts.     The  Anglo-Saxon   Chronicle  says,  "He  let  his 

xSee  page  144. 


HOW  ENGLAND   BEGAN 


195 


men  always  plunder  all  the  country  that  they  went  over." 

Some  rebels   and  traitors,  as  the  king   called 

them  because  they  would  not  obey  him,  were  ^e 

i  it  -ii    Norman 

thrown  into  prison,  and  some  "were  pumshed  Rule 

with  blindness,    some  were    driven  from  the 

land."     And  wherever  he  had  to  put  down  revolts,  he 

built   strong   castles   and   manned   them  with   Norman 

knights  to  hold  the  land. 


D>KE*>1NTERF6C 
TV5-EST 


Death  of  King  Harold 

He  was  shot  in  the  eye  and  is  pulling  out  the  arrow.     The  lettering  is  in  Latin, 
and  says,  "King  Harold  was  killed  " 

" Assuredly  in  his  time  had  men  much  distress,"  the 
old  Chronicle  says,  "and  very  many  sorrows.  Castles 
he  let  men  build  and  miserably  oppress  the  poor.  The 
king  himself  was  so  very  rigid ;  and  extorted  from  his 
subjects  many  marks  of  gold  and  many  hundred  pounds 
of  silver.  .  .  .  He  was  fallen  into  covetousness,  and 
greediness  he  loved  withal.  He  made  many  deer  parks 
[where  he  and  his  friends  might  hunt],  and  he  established 
laws  therewith;  so  that  whosoever  [else]  slew  a  hart  or 
a  hind,  should  be  deprived  of  his  eyesight.  .  .  .     His  rich 


196 


THE  NEWER  NATIONS 


men  bemoaned  it,  and  the  poor  men  shuddered  at  it.  But 
he  was  so  stern  that  he  recked  not  the  hatred  of  them 
all;  for  they  must  follow  withal  the  king's  will,  if  they 
would  live  or  have  land  or  possessions,  or  even  his  peace." 
To  the  Norman  knights  who  had  come  over  with  him  he 
gave  rich  lands.  Gradually  most  of  the  old  Saxon  nobles 
lost  their  possessions,  for  one  reason  or  another,  and  saw 
them  in  the  hands  of  the  strangers. 


Norman  Horsemen 

There  were  different  styles  of  helmets  at  the  same  time.     Two  of  these  are  hoods 

attached  to  the  body  armor.     Two  are  of  iron  plate  with  nose  guards.     Notice 

the  oblong  shields 

Yet  King  William  did  good  things  for  England. 
" Amongst  other  things/'  says  the  old  Chronicle,  "is  not 
to  be  forgotten  that  good  peace  that  he  made 
in  this  land,  so  that  a  man  of  any  account 
might  go  over  his  kingdom  unhurt  with  his 
bosom  full  of  gold.  No  man  durst  slay  an- 
For  he  made  strict  laws  against  theft  and 
murder  and  all  crimes,  appointing  officers  to  carry 
out  those  laws,  and  he  himself  traveled  through  the 
country  now  and  then,  to  see  that  there  was  peace  and 
obedience. 


King 

William's 

Laws 

other." 


HOW  ENGLAND   BEGAN  197 

Alfred  and  Alfred's  grandfather1  had  done  much  in 
their  time  to  make  a  united  England.  William  took 
more  steps  now  in  the  same  direction  and  made  that 
unity  more  sure  and  lasting.  He  did  not  allow  in  the 
land  any  great  earls  and  dukes  who  should  grow  into 
petty  kings  and  tear  the  country  apart,  as  had  happened 
in  Frankland  after  Charlemagne.2  He  had  noblemen,  to 
be  sure,  to  whom  he  gave  land  but  never  to  one  man  so 
much  in  one  place  that  he  owned  a  great  tract  as  big  as  a 
state.  And  every  noble,  and  every  man  who  lived  on  a 
nobleman's  land,  had  to  go  before  the  king  when  he  sat 
on  his  throne,  kneel,  and  put  his  two  hands  between  the 
king's  two  hands  and  swear  to  obey  the  king  above  all 
other  men.  On  that  condition  people  received  their  land, 
and  for  disobedience  they  lost  it.  By  such  means  the 
king  prevented  the  great  nobles  from  having  under  their 
hands  armies  of  men  sworn  to  obey  them.  Instead  every 
man  all  over  England  turned  towards  the  king  for  law  and 
commands. 

William  was  not  satisfied  with  any  guesswork  about 
who  his  subjects  were   and  what  land  they  possessed 
and  what  they  owed  him  in  the  way  of  taxes, 
or  about  the  wealth  of  his  country  and  the  ^he 
occupations    of   his  people  and    the   customs  Book 
under  which  they  lived.     The  Chronicle  says : 

"The  king  had  a  large  meeting  and  very  deep  consul- 
tation with  his  council  about  the  land,  how  it  was  occupied 
and  by  what  sort  of  men.  Then  sent  he  his  men  over  all 
England  into  each  shire,  commissioning  them  to  find  out 
■  How  many  hundreds  of  hides 3  [of  land]  were  in  the  shire, 
what  land  the  king  himself  had  and  what  stock  upon  the 
land,  or  what  dues  he  ought  to  have  by  the  year  from  the 
shire.'     Also  he  commissioned  them  to  record  [this]  in 

lSee  page  187.  2  See  page  163.  8Hi4e  =  about  120  acre?. 


198 


THE   NEWER   NATIONS 


writing.  ...  So  very  narrowly,  indeed,  did  he  com- 
mission them  to  trace  it  out  that  there  was  not  one  single 
hide  nor  a  yard '  of  land,  .  .  .  not  even  an  ox  nor  a  cow  nor 
a  swine  was  there  left  that  was  not  set  down  in  his  writ. 


King  William's  Ship 

Like  a  Viking  ship,  with  carved  prow.     The  pilot  holds  both  steering  oar  and 
sail.     The  gilded  trumpeter  in  the  stern  shows  that  it  is  the  duke's  ship 

And  all  the  recorded  particulars  were  afterwards  brought 
to  him/' 

This  record  is  called  the  Doomsday  Book,  and  lawyers 
still  read  in  it  to  find  who  ought  to  own  certain  pieces  of 
land  in  England,  and  they  respect  this  careful  work  of 
William  the  Conqueror. 

William  and  the  Normans  did  another  service  to  Eng- 

1  Yard  =  one  quarter  of  a  hide. 


HOW  ENGLAND   BEGAN 


199 


land.     They  brought  it  into  touch  with  the  rest  of  Europe. 
Englishmen  on  their  island  had  remained  rather  ignorant 
of  the  rest  of  the  world.      Of   course,   kings  ^7^^ 
had  now  and  then  married  foreign  princesses,  Normans 
wealthy  men  had  made  visits  to  Rome,  and  Did  for 
foreign   monks   and   merchants   and    travelers     ngand 
had  settled  in  England.     Yet  the  country  was  off  in  a 
corner  by  itself.     William  of  Malmesbury,  a  writer  who 
was  not  born,  to  be  sure,  until  after  the  Norman  conquest, 
and  so  never  saw  England  under  Saxon  kings,  gives  a 
strange  picture  of  the  country  before  the  Conqueror's 
time.     If  what  he  says  is  true,  it.  seems  as  though  Alfred, 
after  all,  had  accomplished  little  toward  elevating  his 
people ;  or  rather,  as  though  there  had  been  so  very  much 
to  do  that  he  had  been  able  only  to  make  a  beginning. 

This  is  what  William  of  Malmesbury  says:  "The 
priests,  content  with  a  very  slight  degree  of  learning, 
could  scarcely  stammer  out  the  words  of  the  sacraments, 
and  a  person  who  understood  grammar  was  an  object  of 
wonder  and  astonishment.  .  .  .  The  English  at  that  time 
wore  short  garments  reaching  to  the  mid-knee.;  they  had 
their  hair  cropped,  their  beards  shaven  [except  on  their 
upper  lips,]  their  arms  laden  with  golden  bracelets,  their 
skins  [tattooed].  They  were  accustomed  to  eat  and  to 
drink  till  they  were  sick."  Moreover,  they  lived  in  small 
wooden  houses.  There  were  few  buildings  of  beauty  and 
dignity  in  the  whole  country. 

But  the  Normans,  William  goes  on,  were  "  proudly  ap- 
pareled and  delicate  in  their  food.  ...  They  are  a  race 
used  to  war,  and  can  hardly  live  without  it;  fierce  in 
rushing  against  the  enemy,  and  where  strength  fails,  ready 
to  use  stratagem.  .  .  .  They  five  in  large  houses  [and  are 
economical]. "  They  revived  " religion  which  had  every- 
where grown  lifeless  in  England.     You  might  see  churches 


200  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

rise  in  every  village  and  monasteries  in  the  towns  and 
cities,  built  after  a  style  unknown  before.  .  .  .  Each 
wealthy  man  accounted  that  day  lost  to  him  which  he 
had  neglected  to  signalize  by  some  magnificent  action." 

ET-  hICEPISCOPVSCIBVCT 
POTV: 


A  Norman  Banquet 

There  are  no  forks,  spoons,  or  plates.     The  inscription  says,  "And  here  the  bishop 
blesses  food  and  drink."     He  is  the  third  from  the  right,  making  the  sign  with 

his  three  fingers 

Perhaps  William  of  Malmesbury  was  trying  to  flatter 
the  Normans  somewhat.  But  at  any  rate,  they  waked 
up  the  minds  of  Englishmen ;  taught  them  the  courteous 
manners  of  the  French;  introduced  them  to  the  songs, 
the  history,  and  the  language  of  a  more  polished  people ; 
taught  them  to  build  beautifully  in  stone ;  in  many  ways 
added  beauty  to  their  lives ;  and  gave  them  the  habit  of 
crossing  and  recrossing  the  narrow  sea  which  separated 
them  from  their  neighbors.  For  William  still  remained 
the  duke  of  Normandy,  as  well  as  the  king  of  England. 

The  Good  Laws  of  Henry  II,  n 54-1 189 

William's  great  grandson,  Henry  II,  was  a  strong  king 
and  a  wise  lawyer.     He  made  changes  in  the  courts 


HOW  ENGLAND   BEGAN  201 

which  brought  about  in  England  a  justice  which  other 
countries  had  not  yet  dreamed  of.  Before  his  time 
priests  and  all  men  who  by  writing  their  names  could 
prove  that  they  had  been  educated  in  the  church  schools 
were  tried,  not  in  the  king's  courts,  but  in  the  courts  of 
the  church.  Henry,  thinking  these  church  courts  too 
lenient,  and  believing  it  unjust  for  some  men  to  escape 
due  punishment,  ruled  that  churchmen  who  were  guilty 
of  common  crime  should  be  punished  in  his  courts  like 
common  men.  He  had  a  quarrel  with  the  pope  about 
this,  and  had  to  give  up  a  part  of  his  plan.  However,  he 
made  another  plan  whereby  twelve  men  in  each  hundred,1 
and  four  in  each  township,  should  investigate  crimes  and 
bring  suspected  persons  before  the  judges. 

King  Henry  introduced  a  new  kind  of  trial,  also. 
According  to  old  custom  God  was  asked  to  give  some 
sign  as  to  whether  or  not  an  accused  man  was  guilty. 
Perhaps  the  arms  and  legs  of  the  accused  person  were 
tied,  and  he  was  thrown  into  a  pond  or  a  stream  of  water. 
If  he  really  was  guilty,  he  would  float,  people  believed, 
but  if  he  was  innocent,  he  would  sink.  This  was  because 
water, "  above  which  the  voice  of  the  Lord  had  thundered," 
being  pure,  could  not  receive  into  itself  anything  impure. 
In  another  kind  of  trial  the  accused  man,  after  he  had 
taken  holy  water  and  had  been  blessed  by  the  priest  and 
had  fasted  for  three  days,  grasped  a  red-hot  iron  in  his 
hands,  took  three  steps,  and  cast  it  from  him.  After 
three  days  his  hand  was  examined,  and  if  there  was  no 
wound,  he  was  declared  not  guilty. 

Even  the  wise  King  Henry  kept  this  kind  of  trial  for 
certain  crimes,  such  as  murder  and  robbery.  But  for 
smaller  crimes  he  made  a  more  just  and  merciful  plan. 
Twelve  men  were  chosen  to  investigate  the  matter,    They 

Seepage  185. 


202 


THE   NEWER  NATIONS 


talked  with  the  man  himself,  inquired  from  his  neighbors 
concerning  him,  examined  any  objects  that  would  help 
them  to  learn  the  truth.  Then  they  decided  among 
themselves  as  to  whether  or  not  he  was  guilty.  This  is 
so  great  an  improvement  over  the  old  manner  of  trial 


Pilgrims  Leaving  a  Town 
Notice  the  town  wall  with  towers,  gate,  and  portcullis 


that  we  have  kept  it  with  little  change  to  our  own  day. 
We  call  those  twelve  men  the  "jury." 

King  Henry  was  teaching  his  people  what  justice  was, 

and  they  were  learning  at  the  same  time  what 

Liberty        freedom  meant.      During  a  century  or  so  large 

Towns         towns  had  been  growing  up  at  road  crossings,  at 

fords  in  rivers,  around  castles  and  monasteries. 

These    towns    were   small    in    comparison    with   ours. 


HOW  ENGLAND   BEGAN 


203 


They  were  circled  about  and  shut  in  by  moats  and  walls 
with  gates  and  portcullises  and  drawbridges,  like  those 
of  a  castle.  Inside  this  wall  the  houses  were  built  close, 
as  in  the  old  Greek  city.  There  were  no  lawns,  and 
neighbors  had  only  a  wall  between  them.  The  streets 
were  narrow,  with  often 
not  enough  room  for  two 
carts  to  pass.  Yet  space 
was  always  saved  in  the 
heart  of  the  city  for 
the  market-place,  or  the 
churchyard,  where  all  the 
men  of  the  town  could 
come  together  for  trade 
or  talk  or  war.  The  peo- 
ple of  this  close-packed 
little  town'  were  most  of 
them  common  folk.  And 
wherever  it  was,  the  land 
on  which  it  was  built  be- 
longed to  some  lord  — 
noble  or  bishop  or  king. 
To  him  the  town  owed 
taxes  and  obedience. 

Often  this  lord  was 
hard  upon  the  people. 
He  demanded  too  much 
money  from  them.  He  quartered  his  soldiers  in  their 
houses.  He  cruelly  punished  men  for  little  misdeeds. 
He  threw  innocent  men  into  prison,  that  he  might  get 
ransoms  for  them.  Perhaps  he  made  them  pay  heavy 
toll  for  using  a  bridge  or  a  road.  Perhaps  he  taxed  them 
for  setting  up  stalls  in  the  market-place.  Perhaps  he 
compelled  the  people  to  go  many  miles  to  his  castle  in 


Paying  Toll  on  a  Bridge 

The  man  on  the  right  is  collecting  toll  for 
the  lord  who  owns  the  bridge.  The 
country  people  are  bringing  their  cattle, 
pigs,  and  lambs  to  sell  at  the  town  shown 
in  the  background.  From  an  old  stainea- 
glass  window  in  a  Belgian  church 


204  THE   NEWER  NATIONS 

order  to  try  law  cases,  thus  wasting  their  time  and  spoil- 
ing their  business. 

Under  such  circumstances  the  people  would  talk  these 
matters  over,  and  after  much  discussion  might  decide  to 
buy  from  their  lord,  if  they  could,  the  privilege  of  being 
free  from  these  troubles.  They  would  send  a  few  of  their 
number  to  the  lord  to  say :  "Our  lord,  if  you  will  do  so 
and  so  for  us,  we  will  promise  to  pay  you  yearly  such  and 
such  a  sum  of  money.  We  will  write  out  this  promise  of 
ours  on  a  parchment  and  will  sign  it,  if  you  will  likewise 
write  out  and  sign  your  promise."  Often  the  lord,  because 
he  needed  money  to  go  to  war  or  to  repair  his  castle  or  to 
prepare  a  tournament,  would  be  glad  to  sign  such  a  charter. 

Here  are  the  words  of  one  granted  by  John,  king  of 
England,  to  a  town  called  Helleston :  "Know  that  we 
have  granted  and  by  this  our  charter  have  confirmed  that 
our  town  of  Helleston  shall  be  a  free  town  and  that  our 
burgesses  of  this  town  shall  have  a  gild-merchant1  and 
shall  be  free  from  tolls  throughout  our  realm ;  whether  the 
tolls  be  for  crossing  a  bridge  or  using  a  road  or  for  having 
a  stall  in  a  market  or  for  loading  a  ship  or  for  the  use  of 
the  soil.  .  .  .  We  grant  also  to  them  that  their  law- 
cases  concerning  the  matters  and  tenures  of  their  town 
shall  be  heard  only  within  the  walls  of  their  own  town." 

When  a  village  was  governed  by  its  lord,  it  had  no 
English-  voice  in  its  own  ruling.  But  in  these  free  towns 
men  like  Helleston  the  townsmen  met,  elected  offi- 

**■*"  cers  and  aldermen,  collected  money  to  pay  town 

Lccal  Self-  expenses,  and  made  market  rules  and  police 
govern-  laws.  Men  in  such  a  town  would  learn  to  ap- 
ment  predate   their   rights   as    common   people,    to 

rule  themselves,  to  think  about  the  duty  of  a  lord  and  a 
king  to  his  people. 

1  See  page  263. 


HOW  ENGLAND   BEGAN  205 

By  the  time  King  Henry  died,  therefore,  Englishmen 
had  learned  much  about  good  government.  There  still 
existed  the  memory  of  Anglo-Saxon  free  talk  and  law- 
making in  town-moot  and  folk-moot.1  Men  had  come 
to  expect  crimes  to  be  searched  out  and  punished,  and 
accused  persons  to  be  justly  tried.  The  people  of  many 
towns  had  gained  freemen's  charters  and  were  ruling 
themselves.  And  men  still  remembered  the  good  King 
Alfred  as  an  ideal  ruler  with  whom  to  compare  others. 

After  Henry  II  came  two  kings  of  a  very  different  sort. 
One  of  his  sons,  Richard  I,  Lionheart,  was  a  dashing 
knight  and  a  hero  of  brave  stories,  but  he  was 
not   a  good   king.     He  loved  war  and  glory  Richard 
above  all  things.     He  had  continual  struggles  Il8o_IIOO' 
in  France,  where,  he  was  a  mighty  duke.     He 
went  far  over  seas  to  Jerusalem  to  fight.     So,  in  order  to 
support  armies  and  hire  ships  and  build  castles,  he  laid 
heavy  taxes  on  Englishmen.     He  unjustly  took  wool  and 
holy  dishes  of  gold  and  silver  from  rich  monasteries.     He 
was  once  captured  and  put  into  prison  by  his  enemy,  the 
German  emperor,  and  in  order  to  buy  his  freedom  every 
man  in  England  was  forced  to  give  one  quarter  of  all  his 
movable  goods  —  horses  and  cattle,  plows  and  wagons  and 
crops ;  furniture,  clothes,  and  jewels ;  the  stocks  in  mer- 
chants7 shops.     The  people  groaned  under  this  heavy 
taxing. 

King  John  and  the  Great  Charter 

After  Richard,  came  his  brother  John.     He  had  been 
a  rebel  against  his  father  and  against  his  brother.     Over 
and  over  again  men  have  called  him  the  worst 
king  England  ever  had.     He  was  a  selfish  man, 
cruel  and  wicked.     He  had  a  furious  temper.     He  was 
extravagant  and  eager  for  money.     Again  and  again  he 

Seepages  185-186. 


2o6 


THE  NEWER  NATIONS 


King 
John's 
Cruel  Acts 


took  immense  sums  from  rich  and  from  poor,  from  church 
and  from  people.     Men  dared  not  refuse  to  pay,  for 
the  king  had  countless  ways  of   wringing  the 
money  from  them.     Roger  of  Wendover,  an  old 
chronicler,  tells  of  a  time  when  "by  the  king's 
order,  all  the  Jews  throughout  England  of  both 
sexes  were  seized,  imprisoned,  and  tortured  severely,  in 
order  to  do  the  king's  will  with  their 
money ;    some  of  them  after  being  tor- 
tured gave  up  all  they  had  and  prom- 
ised more,   that   they  might   thus  es- 
cape." 

People  were  thrown  into  prison  for 
no  worse  crime  than  that  they  were 
enemies  of  the  king,  i  A  certain  church- 
man who  had  whispered  against  him 
was  imprisoned,  and  a  heavy  cap  of 
lead  put  upon  his  head  so  that  the 
weight  slowly  killed  him.  The  wife 
and  son  and  daughter  of  a  great  Irish 
noble  who  had  rebelled  against  John 
were  loaded  with  chains,  thrown  into 
prison,  and  there  starved  to  death.  In 
Notice  the  long  toes  of  many  ieSs  terrible   ways   people  were 

the  shoes.     They  were  ■,  t* 

sometimes  turned  up  annoyed  and  abused.  Roger  says  that 
a1irdiaeStrthdchlsthe  while  John  was  once  having  a  quarrel 
with  the  church  "  religious  men  and 
other  persons  .  .  .  when  found  traveling  on  the  road, 
were  dragged  from  their  horses,  robbed,  and  basely  ill- 
treated  by  the  agents  of  the  king."  Again  the  chronicler 
says :  "  There  were  at  this  time  in  the  kingdom  of  Eng- 
land many  nobles,  whose  wives  and  daughters  the  king 
had  insulted  .  .  .  others  whom  he  had  by  unjust  exac- 
tions reduced   to  the  extreme  of  poverty;  some  whose 


King  John 


HOW  ENGLAND   BEGAN 


207 


parents  and  kindred  he  had  exiled,  converting  their  inheri- 
tances to  his  own  use ;  thus  the  said  king's  enemies  were 
as  numerous  as  his  nobles.' '  And  the  chronicler  might 
have  said,  "And  y 

among  church- 
men and  common 
people  there  was 
none  that  loved 
him." 

At    last     these 
Englishmen, 
whose     ancestors 
had     been     long 
training     in    the 
moots  of   Anglo- 
Saxon  times,  un- 
der the  wise  rule 
of  Alfred,  in  the 
courts  and  under 
the  just  laws  of  Henry  II,  and  in  the  self-government  of 
the  free  towns,  determined  to  endure  John's  cruelty  and 
injustice  no  longer.     Stephen  Langton,  a  great  archbishop, 
became  the  leader  of  the  revolt.     When  many 
people  were  one   day  met   in   church  to   hear  £he 
mass,  he  called   aside  a  few  barons  who  were  Rebel 
there  and  said,  according  to  Roger  of  Wendover : 
"  'A  charter  of  Henry  I,  king  of  England,  has  just  now 
been  found,  by  which  you  may  if  you  wish  it,  recall  your 
long  lost  rights,  and  your  former  conditions.'     And  plac- 
ing a  paper  in  the  midst  of  them  he  ordered  it  to  be  read 
aloud  for  all  to  hear." 

This  Henry  I  was  the  great-grandfather  of  John  and 
son  of  William  the  Conqueror.  He  had  drawn  up  a  char- 
ter in  which  he  had  promised  to  rule  justly  according  to 


The  Castle  of  an  English  Baron 


208  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

the  old  Saxon  laws  and  not  to  demand  so  many  and  so 

heavy  payments  of  money  as  his  father  had  done,  but 

only  those  dues  that  every  man  owed  his  lord. 

f  Viar+or  /vf 

Henry  I  Henry  had  kept  his  promises,  and  this  charter 
had  been  a  precious  document.  But  here  was  his 
wicked  great-grandson,  John,  ruling  as  though  no  such 
promise  had  ever  been  made  to  the  English  people. 

Imagine  the  joy  of  these  troubled  barons  when  they 
read  in  this  yellow  old  parchment  the  promises  that  a 
king  had  made  to  their  ancestors  a  hundred  years  before ! 
"When  this  paper  had  been  read  and  understood  by  the 
barons  who  heard  it,"  Roger  says,  "  they  were  much  pleased 
with  it,  and  all  of  them,  in  the  archbishop's  presence,  swore 
that  when  they  saw  a  fit  opportunity,  they  would  stand 
up  for  their  rights,  if  necessary  would  die  for  them." 

At  Easter  they  gathered,  2000  knights  besides  common 
horsemen  and  foot  soldiers,  and  sent  their  paper  to  the 
The  king.     But  it  was  no  longer  merely  the  old 

Barons  charter  of  King  Henry.  With  discussion  men 
Defy  the      had  come  to  see  more  clearly  the  rights  of  the 

g  people  and  the  duties  of  a  king.     So  it  was  a 

new,  a  larger  and  more  precious  charter  that  they  were 
asking  their  king  to  sign.  When  John  heard  it,  he  cried 
out:  "Why  don't  they  ask  for  my  kingdom?  I  will 
never  grant  such  liberties  as  will  make  me  a  slave." 

So  the  messenger  carried  the  charter  and  the  king's 
refusal  back  to  the  waiting  army.  Then  that  grim  host 
began  to  besiege  castles  and  towns  that  belonged  to  the 
king.  London  and  a  few  other  cities  opened  their  gates 
and  welcomed  in  this  "army  of  God  and  the  Holy  Church," 
because  it  was  fighting  for  the  people's  rights.  Barons 
and  common  men  came  flocking  to  the  army  from  all  sides 
until,  the  chronicler  says,  King  John  was  deserted  by 
almost  every  one  and  hardly  had  seven  knights  out  of  all 


HOW  ENGLAND   BEGAN  209 

who  had  ever  served  him.  Every  face  that  he  looked 
upon  looked  back  with  stern  hate.  He  could  not  get  his 
own  people  to  serve  as  his  soldiers  against  this  army  of 
Englishmen.  He  could  get  no  money  from  his  rebellious 
subjects  to  hire  a  foreign  army.  After  sixteen  years  of 
cheating,  of  greed  and  cruelty,  he  was  now  trapped  by 
his  own  sins.  No  man  could  more  hate  to  be  beaten, 
and  John  was  all  the  time  in  his  heart  swearing  ven- 
geance. Yet  he  saw  that  he  must  sign.  So  he  sent  a 
message  to  the  barons  asking  them  to  appoint  a  time 
and  place. 

On  the  fifteenth  of  June,  1215,  the  two  parties  met  at 
Runnymede.     The  king's  attendants  were  on  one  side 
of  the  river.     On  the  other  side  was  drawn  up 
"the  army  of  God  and  the  Holy  Church,"  and  *^£y* 
the  chronicler  says  that  it  is  not  necessary  to 
tell  who  they  were,  "since  the  whole  nobility  of  England 
were  now  assembled  together  in  numbers  not  to  be  com- 
puted."    On  a  small  island  in  the  river  King  John  met 
twenty-five    of    the  barons  and  under  the  eyes  of  the 
determined  army  on  the  banks  signed  the  Great  Charter. 
Nor  did  he  sign  it  for  himself  alone,  but,  as  he  writes, 
"for  us  and  our  heirs  forever." 

Probably  the  old  barons  were  not  thinking  of  future 
ages  but  of  their  own  time  and  their  own  troubles.     Yet 
Englishmen  who  have  come  after  them  through 
seven  hundred  years  have  more  and  more  re-     ,e    reat 
vered  that  old  charter.     It  has  been  the  battle- 
cry  of  men  fighting  for  liberty.     It  has  been  called  the 
bulwark  of  English  freedom,  a  part  of  the  "  Bible  of  the 
English  constitution,"  "  a  common  blessing  of  the  whole 
people."     Englishmen  still  look  back  to   June  fifteenth 
as  the  birthday  of  their  liberties. 

There  are   sixty-three   articles   in    that   old   charter. 


2IO  THE   NEWER  NATIONS 

Some  of  them  concern  matters  that  no  longer  interest 
us.  But  some  of  them  are  the  most  precious  possessions 
of  to-day:  for  example,  the  beginning  of  the  people's 
right  to  control  the  taxing  of  themselves.  The  king 
promises  that  when  he  desires  to  levy  a  tax  for  certain 
purposes,  he  will  call  the  bishops  and  barons  and  all 
men  who  hold  land  from  him  to  a  meeting  where  the 
matter  shall  be  discussed.  He  distinctly  says  that  no 
tax  shall  be  imposed  (outside  of  certain  dues  that  every- 
body had  for  centuries  considered  just)  "  unless  with  the 
consent  of  the  Common  Council  of  our  realm.' '  Five 
hundred  years  later,  when  Englishmen  in  the  American 
colonies  said  to  the  English  king,  "No  taxation  without 
representation,"  they  felt  that  they  were  but  repeating 
what  the  nobles  had  asked  and  won  in  the  Great  Charter. 

Most  important  of  all  the  sections  of  the  charter,  per- 
haps, are  these  two :  "No  freeman  shall  be  taken,  or  im- 
prisoned, or  disseized,  or  outlawed,  or  exiled,  or  in  any 
way  harmed  .  .  .  save  by  the  lawful  judgment  of  his 
peers  or  by  the  law  of  the  land.  ...  To  none  will  we 
sell,  to  none  deny  or  delay,  right  or  justice."  As  we  read 
the  words,  we  can  see  the  stern  faces  of  the  men  whose 
relatives  and  friends  John  had  outraged,  exiled,  robbed, 
thrown  into  prison  to  die  or  to  be  bought  out  by  then- 
wealthy  families.  In  later  times  when  men  were  being 
oppressed  and  imprisoned  by  their  kings,  they  cried  out 
against  them  as  promise-breakers,  for  they  felt  that  when 
their  ancestors  had  forced  King  John  to  sign  this  article, 
they  had  gained  "  full  protection  for  property  and  person 
to  every  human  being  that  breathes  English  air." 

It  was,  to  be  sure,  the  nobles  who  chiefly  made  up  the 
strength  of  "the  army  of  God  and  the  Holy  Church"  and 
who  gained  most  by  the  charter.  Yet  there  were  com- 
moners, too,  in  the  army  —  merchants  from  the  free  towns, 


HOW  ENGLAND   BEGAN 


211 


probably,  and  farmers  from  the  more  prosperous  districts. 
For  a  certain  section  promised  justice  to  the  people  in 
the  matter  of  fines  for  breaking  the  law  —  small  fines 
for  small  faults.  And  no  matter  what  the  fault  or  what 
the  fine,  men  were  to  be  left  the  means  by  which  they 
earned  their  bread  —  his  land  to  the  farmer,  his  merchan- 
dise to  the  merchant,  his  wagon  to  the  poor  peasant. 

Moreover,  there  was  granted  safety  for  merchants, 
foreigners  often,  whom  John  had  been  used  to  annoy  and 
rob.  "All  merchants  may  safely  and  securely  go  out  of 
England  and  come  into  England,  and  also  delay  and  pass 
through  England,  as  well  by  land  as  by  water,  for  the 
purpose  of  buying  and  selling,  free  from  all  evil  taxes,  sub- 
ject to  the  ancient  and 
right  customs. " 

Some  of  the  free  towns, 
too,  gained  privijeges. 
"And  the  city  of  Lon- 
don/' says  the  charter, 
"shall have  all  its  old  liber- 
ties and  free  customs  as 
well  by  land  as  by  water. 
Moreover,  we  will  and 
grant  that  all  other  cities 
and  boroughs,  and  towns 
and  ports  shall  have  all 
their  liberties  and  free 
customs." 

The  promises  made  in 
the   charter  were  impor- 


An  English  Merchant  in  Rich 
Clothes 


tant,  but  the  fact  that  there  was  a  charter  at  all  was  more 
important.  These  men  had  not  bought  it  with  money,  as 
so  many  towns  had  done  :  they  had  got  it  at'the  point  of  the 
sword.     They  had  forced  a  king  to  do  their  bidding,  to  rec- 


212  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

ognize  their  rights.  John  had  signed  against  his  will.  He 
had  left  the  green  meadow  of  Runnymede,  curs- 
Results  of  mg  an(j  tearing  his  hair  and  raging  like  a  mad- 
Charter  man.  Yet  the  charter  stood,  in  spite  of  his  fury. 
The  people  had  made  a  weapon  with  which  to 
control  their  kings. 

Thus,  while  Germany  was  falling  to  pieces  and  France 
was  building  up  the  power  of  the  king,  England  was 
slowly  preparing  for  the  power  of  the  people,  was  develop- 
ing a  popular  government. 


1.  In  what  ways  were  Alfred  and  Charlemagne  alike?  In  what 
ways  were  they  different?  Which  do  you  admire  more ?  Keep  a  note- 
book for  a  few  days,  as  King  Alfred  did.  (See  page  189.)  2.  Make 
a  list  of  ways  in  which  England  suffered  from  the  Norman  conquest, 
and  a  list  of  benefits  that  followed.  3.  Why  would  a  town  grow  up 
at  a  cross-road  or  a  river  ford  ?  Write  the  imaginary  history  of  such 
a  town,  telling  how  it  began  and  how  it  grew*  (For  information  about 
the  growth  of  towns,  see  Allsopp,  Introduction  to  English  Industrial 
History,  pp.  59-63,  or  Guest,  Social  History  of  England,  pp.  60-63.) 
4.  Try  to  find  out  what  helped  the  growth  of  your  own  town  (or  the 
one  nearest  to  you).  5.  What  one  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  moots  was 
most  like  our  state  legislature?  What  one  was  like  our  Congress? 
What  one  was  like  the  Athenian  assembly?  (See  page  51.)  6.  Some 
of  our  American  towns  now  hold  town  meetings  like  the  Anglo-Saxon 
town-moot.  Hold  such  a  meeting  to  discuss  some  class  project, — 
organizing  a  loan  library,  planning  a  Saturday  class  picnic.  7.  Appoint 
a  judge  and  a  jury  of  twelve,  like  King  Henry's  jury,  and  let  them  try 
a  classmate  for  the  imaginary  breaking  of  some  law.  What  is  the  use- 
fulness of  the  jury?  8.  Some  of  the  girls  would  get  pleasure  and 
profit  from  embroidering  on  linen  pictures  like  those  of  the  Bayeux 
tapestry.     (See  pictures  on  pages  193  to  200.) 


20°                                          10°                                     0° 

10" 

EUROPE     "\\/        '"                1 

ABOUT  THE  CLOSE  OP  THE                        y1^-^^                        .    / 

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in  France  held  by  the  English  king.     /                M^^^Jr          / 

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10°      Longitude  West  from  Greenwich  0°       Longitude  East  from  Greenwich        10° 


Beginning  of  a  Tournament 

The  knights'  faces  are  covered,  but  the  pictures  or  "arms"  on  the  shields  show 
who  they  are.     So  do  the  embroidered  pennons  held  by  the  herald 


CHAPTER  X 


CASTLE  LIFE 


The  time  from  Charlemagne  to  Frederick  II  and  St. 
Louis  and  King  John  is  a  part  of  what  men  call  the 
Middle  Ages.     In  those  days  life  in  all  parts  of 
western  Europe  was  much  alike,  and  it  was  in 
some  ways  so  different  from  our  own  that  it 
seems  very  interesting  and  exciting.     There  were  three 
classes :   the  nobles,  the  churchmen,  the  common  people. 

The  nobles  owned  the  land  and  were  wealthy ;  most  of 
the  common  people  worked  the  land  and  were  poor.  The 
nobles  looked  back  with  pride  to  their  ancestors,  who  for 
generations  had  been  landowners  and  fighters ;  while  the 
common  man's  ancestors  had  been  poor  farmers.  The 
churchmen  were  drawn  from  both  classes.  Often  a  noble 
entered  the  church  and  became  an  abbot  or  a  bishop, 
ruling  church  land  and  lowly  churchmen  as  his  fathers 
had  ruled  their  own  land  and  people.  Common  men,  also, 
entered  the  church  and  sometimes  rose  to  high  places,  but 

2X3 


214  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

more  often  worked  on  the  church  farms  or  did  humble  serv- 
ice, just  as  they  had  done  before  for  their  earthly  lord. 

Feudalism,  or  How  Men  Got  Land 

Why  was  it  that  the  men  of  pride  and  power  and  land 
were  not  the  men  who  worked  but  the  men  who  fought? 
Think  of  that  savage  time  after  Charlemagne's  death,  and 
perhaps  the  question  will  be  answered.1  Men's  lives  were 
in  danger  every  day  from  fierce  Vikings  or  Huns  or  their 
own  lawless  neighbors.  What  man,  then,  would  be  most 
successful?  The  man  who  with  a  strong  arm  could  pro- 
tect himself.  Who  could  get  possession  of  horses  and 
riches  and  land?  The  man  who  was  strong  and  clever 
enough  to  take  them  when  he  saw  them  and  to  keep  them 
against  all  comers.  Who  could  get  other  men  to  serve 
him?  The  good  fighter,  who  could  protect  his  friends. 
Weaker  men  were  willing  to  do  his  plowing,  while  he  and 
his  warriors  did  their  fighting.  They  were  glad  to  live 
in  little  huts  near  his  castle.  Men  who  could  fight, 
though  not  so  well  as  he,  gladly  helped  to  defend  his 
castle  and  followed  him  to  war.  If  these  men  had  land, 
they  gave  it  to  the  strong  man  in  exchange  for  his  pro- 
tection. In  another  way,  also,  this  fighter  got  other 
land.  When  Charlemagne  conquered  Saxony,  when 
Clovis  conquered  Gaul,  when  William  won  England,2  the 
fighters  who  helped  them  received  pieces  of  the  new  land, 
and  their  descendants  kept  it  for  generations. 

In  these  ways  it  came  about  that  a  few  warlike  men 
owned  most  of  the  land  and  that  thousands  of  weaker 
men  owned  none.  Land,  however,  is  of  no  use  unless  it 
can  be  worked.  So  it  became  the  custom  for  owners 
of  thousands  of  acres  to  loan  small  plots  to  other  men. 
But  they  demanded  something  in  return.     The  man  who 

1  See  page  163.  » See  pages  150,  151,  194. 


CASTLE  LIFE 


215 


received  the  land  ("vassal,"  he  was  called)  must  help  his 

lord  in  war  and  must  bring  a  certain  number 

of  knights,  besides.     He  must  entertain  the  lord  ?°w  Land 

and  his  men  and  horses  whenever   the   lord  Loane(i 

should  demand  it.     He  must  come  at  least  once 

a  year  to  the  lord's  court  and  help  to  decide  cases  of  law. 

Sometimes  the  vassal  had  to  promise  to  do  some  small 


A  Vassal  Swearing  Fealty 


service  to  show  that  he  was  his  lord's  inferior  —  hold  his 
stirrup  when  he  mounted  his  horse,  carry  a  tall  candle  at 
his  table  once  a  year,  present  him  with  a  Yule  log  at 
Christmas  time. 

When  a  man  received  land  from  another,  he  knelt 
bareheaded  before  him,  put  his  clasped  hands  between 
the  hands  of  his  lord,  and  made  a  promise  like  this  :  "For 


216  THE   NEWER  NATIONS 

each  and  all  of  [these  castles  and  lands]  I  make  homage 
and  fealty  with  hands  and  with  mouth  to  thee,  my  lord, 
.  .  .  and  to  thy  successors,  and  I  swear  upon 
thUtvS  °ai  these  four  gospels  of  God  [and  then  he  placed 
his  hands  upon  the  Bible]  that  I  will  always  be 
a  faithful  vassal  to  thee  and  to  thy  successors  ...  in  all 
things  in  which  a  vassal  is  required  to  be  faithful  to  his 
lord,  and  I  will  defend  thee,  my  lord,  and  all  thy 
successors  .  .  .  against  all  invaders/' 

Then  the  lord  kissed  his  vassal  and  raised  him  to  his 
feet  and  gave  him  a  little  wisp  of  straw  or  a  little  twig  of 
a  tree  as  a  symbol  of  the  land  that  he  was  giving,  and  he 
answered,  "And  I  receive  you  and  take  you  as  my  man 
and  give  you  this  kiss  as  a  sign  of  faith."  If  the  vassal 
broke  his  promise  of  faithfulness  or  refused  to  do  any  of 
the  things  that  he  had  agreed  to  do,  he  was  in  danger  of 
losing  his  land. 

One  great  man,  dividing  up  his  wide  possessions  in 
this  way,  often  had  hundreds  of  vassals.  Some  of  these 
vassals  had  more  land  than  they  could  use  or  defend, 
and  they  divided  it  again  and  loaned  parts  of  it  to 
other  men,  who  then  became  their  under- vassals.  There 
was  one  piece  of  land  in  Scotland,  for  instance,  about 
which  this  record  was  written  in  the  year  1270 : 
"  Roger  of  St.  Germain  holds  [house  and  land]  from 
Robert  of  Bedford  .  .  .  [and  Robert  holds  from  Richard 
Hylchester]  and  the  said  Richard  holds  from  Alan  de 
Chartres,  ...  and  Alan  from  William  the  Butler,  and 
the  same  William  from  lord  Gilbert  de  Neville,  and  the 
same  Gilbert  from  the  lady  Devorguilla  of  Balliol,  and 
Devorguilla  from  the  king  of  Scotland,  and  the  same  king 
from  the  king  of  England." 

Every  one  of  these  vassals  owed  money  or  labor  or 
military  service  to  the  lord  from  whom  he  held.     Now, 


CASTLE   LIFE  217 

suppose  the  king  of  England  was  preparing  for  war.  He 
would  send  out  to  all  his  vassals  a  summons  like  this, 
"I  command  you  to  summon  all  those  who  are  under 
your  charge  and  jurisdiction  to  have  armed  before  me  by 
the  week  after  Whitsunday  ...  all  the  knights  which  are 
due  to  me."  Among  others,  the  king  of  Scotland  would 
receive  this  summons,  and  he  would  send  one  like  it  to  all 
his  vassals,  including  the  lady  of  Balliol.  Probably  she, 
herself,  would  not  go  to  war,  but  she  would  summon  all 
her  vassals  to  come  before  her  with  their  men  ready  for 
war.  And  so  the  message  would  go  down  from  one  to 
another.  At  the  war-call  of  one  man,  there  gathered 
fighting  men  from  all  corners  of  broad  lands. 

The  Castle 

These  nobles  lived  in  castles.     No  two  of  these  castles 
were  just  alike,  yet  many  things  were  similar  in  all  of 
them.     Nowadays   we   choose   places   for   our 
homes    00    account   of    their    convenience   or  Good 
their   beauty.     In    the    Middle    Ages    a    man  for  castles 
chose  a  site  for  his  castle  because  of  its  safety, 
just  as  the  ancient  Greeks  chose  locations  for  their  cities.1 
The  top  of  a  steep  hill  was  a  good  place.     To  be  sure,  a 
man  could  almost  never  find  a  hill  so 'steep  that  other 
men  could  not  climb  it.     But  even  on  a  gentle  slope  it  is 
hard  to  climb  and  fight  at  once;   and  there  were  always 
the  castle  men  on  the  walls  above,  shooting  arrows  and 
rolling  down  stones. 

A  rocky  island,  too,  would  be  an  excellent  place  for  a 
castle.  The  foe  could  reach  it  only  in  boats ;  and  while 
they  were  landing  and  could  not  protect  themselves 
quickly,  the  castle  men  could  fall  upon  them.  Another 
good  location  would  be  a  steep  headland,  jutting  into  a 

1  See  page  38. 


2l8 


THE  NEWER  NATIONS 


A  Castle 

A  modern  drawing  of  a  castle.     A,  moat ;  B,  entrance  gate ;  C,  outer  court ;  D, 

church ;  E,  outbuildings ;   F,  stable ;  G,  second  moat ;    H ,  entrance  to  inner 

court;  I ;   J,  dwelling  houses ;    K,  donjon  or  keep. 


lake  or  river.  The  owner  would  build  a  wall  across  the 
neck  that  connected  the  head  with  the  mainland.  This 
would  be  the  only  place  where  there  would  be  much 
danger  of  attack,  and  all  the  fighting  men  could  be 
crowded  here  to  defend  it. 


CASTLE   LIFE  219 

But  the  best  places  were  taken  by  the  first  comers, 
and  after  that  nobles  had  to  be  content  with  less  pro- 
tected ones.  Then  they  had  to  make  their 
castles  safe  by  artificial  means.  One  thing  ^he 
that  every  castle-builder  always  did  was  to  run  Wall 
a  strong  wall  around  the  spot  where  his  build- 
ings were  to  be.  In  early  days  this  was  of  earth,  but 
later  it  was  of  stone.  It  was  perhaps  thirty  feet  high 
and  ten  feet  thick.  It  rarely  ran  straight  and  turned 
square  corners,  but  wandered  along  the  edge  of  the  hill- 
top or  island  in  an  interesting  zigzag  line.  At  every 
corner  was  a  stout  round  tower,  where  a  guard  always 
stood,  looking  about.  The  top  of  the  wall  was  broad  and 
flat,  so  that  warriors  could  stand  there  and  fight.  And 
on  the  outer  edge  of  it  a  thin  wall  went  a  little  higher 
than  a  man's  head  to  protect  the  soldiers.  But  no  one 
could  either  see  an  enemy  or  aim  an  arrow  at  him  over 
so  high  a  wall.  Every  few  feet,  therefore,  it  was  cut 
lower,  so  that  a  man  might  look  over,  shoot,  and  leap 
back  to  safety  behind  the  higher  part.  This  thin  wall 
was  called  the  parapet.  With  its  low  slashes  and  high 
points  it  made  the  great  wall  seem  to  be  on.  guard  and  to 
be  carrying  huge  spears. 

But  the  enemy  might  get  up  to  the  foot  of  the  wall 
and  put  ladders  against  it  and  climb  up  and 
over.     Or  they  might  bring  up  battering  rams  ^he 
and  break  the  wall  down.     So  the  castle-builder  Moat 
dug  a  deep,  broad  moat  at   the  wall's  foot. 
If  there  was  a  stream  near,  he  made  a  canal  to  it  and 
turned  its  water  into  his  moat.     But  if  he  could  get  no 
water,  he  left  his  ditch  dry  and  planted  its  bottom  thick 
with  sharp  stakes,  that  gave  no  pleasant  welcome  to  an 
enemy. 

In  time  of  peace,  of  course,  men  needed  to  get  through 


220 


THE  NEWER  NATIONS 


The 

Castle 

Gate 


the  wall  and  across  the  moat.  So  there  was  a  gateway 
with  a  bridge  leading  to  it.  This  gate  and 
this  bridge  had  to  be  made  safe  against  the 
enemy,  however,  for  who  could  tell  when  he 
might  come?  There  was  a  tower  at  each  side 
of  the  gateway,  where  the  soldiers  could  gather.     There 

were  strong  doors 
of  heavy  timber, 
that  could  be  shut 
in  the  enemy's 
face.  But  lest  he 
might  sometime 
be  too  quick  for 
the  slow,  heavy 
gates,  there  was 
a  framework  of 
iron  bars  hanging 
above  the  open- 
ing. This  port- 
cullis the  guard 
in  the  tower  could 
drop,  fierce  and 
clanging,  in  an 
instant.  The 
bridge,  moreover, 
the  guards  could  quickly  lift;  for  it  was  a  drawbridge. 
Then  there  were  left  the  yawning  moat  and  the  steep 
wall  to  keep  the  castle. 

People  thus  shut  in  must  be  sure  of  food  and  water. 
There  must  be  a  spring  or  a  good  well  inside 
the  walls.  There  must,  too,  be  granaries  for 
storing  grain ;  and  near  by  must  be  fertile  fields, 
where  this  grain  could  be  grown.  There  must 
also  be  room  and  sheds  inside  the  wall  for  cattle,  and 


A  Sally  across  a  Drawbridge 

In  the  middle  of  a  battle  before  the  castle,  a  troop 

of  soldiers  sallies  out  across  the  drawbridge  in  good 

order.     Notice  the  portcullis  in  the  gateway 


The 

Castle 

Buildings 


CASTLE   LIFE  221 

pasture  land  outside.  In  fact,  the  castle  was  the  good 
dragon  that  guarded  a  little  farming  district;  and  the 
farms,  in  payment,  fed  him.  There  had  to  be  men  to 
work  the  farms,  and  they  needed  houses  to  live  in.  Often 
they  built  them  snuggled  against  the  big,  safe  wall,  where 
the  guards  could  look  down  on  the  thatched  roofs.  In 
times  of  danger,  these  peasants  left  their  own  houses  and 
crowded  into  the  castle.  So  the  courtyard  inside  the 
wall  had  to  be  large,  with  sheds  where  the  peasants 
might  camp  for  a  while  and  where  they  might  shelter 
their  horses  and  cattle  and  plows  and  wagons. 

Sometimes,  in  a  great  castle,  these  common  buildings 
and  the  castle's  own  stables  and  sheds  and  granaries 
were  in  the  yard  behind  the  gate;  and  a  second,  inner 
wall  went  across  behind  them  and  shut  off  a  more  private 
courtyard.  Here  lived  the  lord  and  his  family.  Some- 
times there  were  many  buildings  in  this  second  court,  — ■ 
a  little  church,  barracks  for  the  soldiers,  an  armory  to 
store  extra  weapons,  a  shop  for  the  armor  maker,  and  the 
keep,  or  donjon,  strongly  built  and  high.  In  the  larger 
castles  were  palaces,  the  dwelling  place  of  the  lord  and 
his  family.  In  smaller  castles,  however,  there  were  none, 
but  the  keep  was  dwelling  place  and  fortress,  all  in  one. 
The  ground  floor  was  the  armory,  perhaps.  Above  that 
was  a  large  room  where  the  soldiers  ate  and  slept.  The 
next  two  floors  had  the  living  rooms  of  the  lord  and  his 
family  and  the  knights  who  served  him. 

But  in  any  castle,  great  or  small,  the  keep  was  the 
most  important  of  all  the  buildings.  It  was  the  last 
refuge  and  hope  of  its  people.  Behind  the  walls 
it  stood  with  its  feet  firmly  planted.  It  seemed 
almost  like  solid  rock.  Indeed,  its  wall  was  often  twenty 
feet  thick,  and  there  were  only  a  few  narrow  slits  for 
windows.     Its  one  door  was  in  the  second  story,  with  a 


222  THE   NEWER  NATIONS 

movable  ladder  reaching  up  to  it.  The  roof  of  the  keep 
was  flat,  and  a  parapet  went  around  the  edge,  so  that 
men  might  make  their  last  stand  here  and  fight.  Every- 
thing was  done  that  could  make  it  safe.  It  was  a  castle 
inside  a  castle. 

In  the  early  days  of  feudalism  these  buildings  were 
often  of  wood.     But  by  the  time  of  St.  Louis  all  of  them 

except  a  few  of  the  sheds  and  shops  were  of 
The  stone,  with  thick,   rough  walls.      There  were 

Rooms  of  ^ew  wmd°ws  J  f°r  windows  were  holes  through 
the  Castle    which  arrows  or  stones  might  come.     When  the 

builder  did  allow  an  opening,  he  made  it  very- 
narrow,  and  in  the  thick  wall  it  looked  like  a  mere  slit. 
Windows  so  few  and  so  small  made  dim  rooms.  The  sun 
rarely  sweetened  them.  The  walls  inside,  moreover,  were 
of  gray  stone,  unplastered,  rough  and  cold  to  the  touch 
and  bare  to  look  at.  The  floor,  too,  was  stone.  But  the 
castle  ladies  had  planned  ways  to  add  beauty  and  comfort 
to  these  bleak  rooms.  In  winter  they  spread  rugs  on  the 
stone  floor,  sometimes  the  furry  skins  of  bear  and  wolf  and 
fox  that  the  lords  had  killed,  sometimes  woven  carpets 
brought  from  the  far  East.  In  spring  they  often  had 
the  floor  strewn  with  sweet-smelling  rushes.  And  they 
hung  the  cold  walls  with  gay  tapestry  of  their  own  making. 
These  castles,  with  their  towered  walls  and  many 
buildings,  were  not  made  in  a  day.     Away  back  in  the 

times  of  St.  Louis  and  Frederick  II  some  of 
■J;he  them  were  three  or  four  hundred  years  old, 

of  a  Castle  ano^  during  all  that  time  they  had  slowly  grown, 

as  a  great  tree  grows.  Perhaps  the  first  builder 
made  only  a  strong  keep  of  wood  with  a  short  wall 
surrounding  it.  One  of  his  descendants,  perhaps,  grown 
greater  and  richer  than  his  ancestor,  built  a  new  keep 
of  stone  and,  finding  the  castle  too  small,  added  a  bar- 


CASTLE   LIFE 


223 


rack  for  his  soldiers.  His  grandson,  with  more  fighting 
men,  needed  more  room,  and  he  made  another  court- 
yard in  front  of  the  old  one  and  put  a  new  wall  about  it 
and  built  a  new,  larger  barrack  there.  If  he  was  a  lover 
of  comfort  and  elegance,  he  tore  down  the  old  barrack  to 
make  room  for  a  new  donjon  or  dwelling  place.  Perhaps, 
too,  he  built  a  fine  chapel  in  some  corner  of  the  wall. 


A  King  Giving  Orders  to  His  Builder 

These  builders  of  the  Middle  Ages  are  using  a  plumb  line,  a  square,  compasses, 
a  ladder,  and  hoists  worked  with  a  windlass.     Two  men  in  the  end  arches  seem 
to  be  stonecutters 

As  he  looked  about  he  could  see  the  work  of  three 
generations,  and  perhaps  he  wondered  whether  any  of  his 
descendants  would  add  anything  to  the  family  castle. 
He  would  never  dream,  I  suppose,  that  it  might  become 
the  heart  of  a  city,  grown  up  about  its  feet  for  protection. 
Visit  almost  any  of  the  castles  of  France  or  Germany, 
and  you  will  find  a  village  or  a  town  spreading  around  it 
or  nestled  beside  it.  The  history  of  the  castle  and  the 
town  will  go  back  perhaps  a  thousand  years.     And  it 


224  '       THE   NEWER  NATIONS 

may  be  that  even  before  that  time  the  Romans  had  had 
a  walled  camp  there,  and  perhaps  yet  earlier  the  Germans 
or  the  Gauls  had  had  a  fort  in  that  very  place. 

A  Siege 

Did  these  castles  of  stone,  built  to  protect  their  in- 
The  Siege  habitants,  really  keep  them  safe  ?  Did  an 
of  Mon-  enemy  ever  capture  one  ?  For  answer  read 
tauban  ^he  st0ry  of  a  siege  as  told  by  an  old  French 
poet.  It  is  an  imaginary  story,  of  course,  but  just  such 
things  often  did  happen  in  real  sieges. 

"[And  Charlemagne  said,]  'Lords,  make  you  ready, 
for  I  will  now  give  assault  to  Montauban.' 

"When  they  were  ready  they  came  in  good  order  and 
brought  ladders  and  other  instruments  and  engines  to 
break  down  the  walls,  and  when  the  King  saw  them  so 
well  appareled,  he  ordered  the  assault. 

"Renaud  saw  the  movement  and  sounded  his  horn 
three  times,  and  forthwith  all  they  of  the  castle  armed 
themselves  and  came  on  the  walls  to  defend  the  castle. 
The  Frenchmen  [so  the  French  song  calls  Charlemagne's 
people,  though  they  really  were  German]  came  near  and 
entered  into  the  ditch  and  dressed  up  their  ladders  to  the 
wall,  but  they  within  defended  so  strongly  with  casting 
of  stones,  that  many  of  the  Frenchmen  were  slain.  Great 
pity  it  was  to  see  the  Duchess  and  the  young  children 
bearing  stones  for  their  uncles  to  throw.  And  when 
Charlemagne  saw  that  the  ladders  were  overthrown,  he 
knew  that  he  should  not  take  Montauban  by  force,  and 
made  the  trumpet  to  be  blown  to  call  his  folk  back.  .  .  . 

"Charlemagne  swore  by  St.  Denis  of  France  that  he 
would  not  depart  till  they  were  famished,  and  he  set  before 
every  gate  of  the  castle  two  hundred  knights,  that  no- 
body might  pass  in  or  out,  ?  ,  , 


CASTLE   LIFE 


225 


"So  long  abode  the  Emperor  at  the  siege  of  Montauban 
that  they  who  were  in  it  had  great  need  of  victuals,  and 
he  that  had  any  meat  hid  it  straightway,  for  men  could 
get  none  for  gold  or  silver,  and  the  dearth  was  so  great 
that  one  brother  hid  his  meat  from  another,  and  the  father 
from  his  child,  and  the 
child  from  its'  mother. 
The  poor  folk  died  for 
hunger  in  the  streets,  and 
Renaud  had  need  to  make 
a  great  charnel  house  and 
carry  them  there.  ... 

"Then  said  Charle- 
magne :  i  Lords,  it  is  now 
long  time  since  we  first  be- 
sieged this  castle,  and  we 
have  lost  many  of  our  folk. 
I  command  you  to  make 
great  engines  to  bring 
down  the  towers ! '  .  .  . 

"So  engines  were  made 
to  cast  great  multitudes 
of  stones,  and  for  fear  of 
them  the  folk  went  and 
hid  under  the  ground; 
and  so  they  of  Montauban 
endured  this  mischief  also. 
So  great  was  the  dearth 
and  mortality  that  men  wist  not  where  to  put  the  dead 
for  the  charnel  house  was  full,  and  the  young  men  went 
with  a  staff  or  fell  groveling  on  the  ground  for  feeble- 
ness. .  .  . 

"There  was  an  old  man  among  them  who  said  to  Re- 
naud :    '  Sir,   I  see  that  Montauban  may  no  longer  be 


Besieging  a  Tower 

The  besiegers  are  protecting  themselves 
with  a  movable  shed  (or  cat)  while  .they 
undermine  the  walls  with  pickaxes.  The 
besieged  are  pouring  boiling  water  on  the 
roof  of  the  cat,  and  trying  to  break  it  with 
stones  and  a  sharp  pole 


226 


THE   NEWER  NATIONS 


defended,  but  in  you  is  not  the  fault.  Come  with  me, 
and  I  shall  show  you  a  way  by  which  we  may  escape 
without  danger.  Now  know  that  there  was  once  before  ? 
castle  here,  and  the  lord  that  builded  it  first  made  a  wa> 
under  the  earth  that  bringeth  folk  into  the  Wood  of  the 
Serpent,  and  when  I  was  a  child  I.  went 
through  it.  Dig  here  and  you  shall  find 
it,  and  we  may  escape  without  danger.' 
"Then   Renaud    came    to    the   place, 


Battering  Ram 

Notice  the  difference  between  this  armor  and  that  in  the  Bayeux  tapestry. 
This  is  about  400  years  later.     It  is  made  of  iron  plates 

and  they  digged  in  the  earth  and  found  the  way  that 
the  old  man  said,  and  Renaud,  his  wife  and  children, 
his  brethren  and  the  remnant  of  his  folk,  put  themselves 
in  the  way,  and  Renaud  made  great  plenty  of  torches 
to  be  fired,  that  they  might  see  the  better.  ...  So 
long  they  went  that  they  came  to  the  mouth  of  the 
cave  and  found  them  in  the  Wood  of  the  Serpent  at 
day  spring  .  .  .  [and  thereafter  came  to  Renaud' s  own 
town].  And  when  they  of  the  city  knew  that  their  lord 
was  come,   they  were  glad   and  came  out  to  meet  him 


CASTLE   LIFE  227 

in  fair  company  and  made  great  feast  through  all  the 
town."  x 

But  besiegers  were  not  always  forced  to  wait  for  star- 
vation to  conquer  the  castle.     They  could  make  many 
machines  to  help  them.     These  were  much  like 
the  Roman  engines,2  for  they  had  the  same  sort     ieg.e 
of  work  to  do.     In  spite  of  the  centuries  that  had 
passed,  the  castle  and  walled  tower  of  the  Middle  Ages 
were  much  like  the  walled  camp  and  fortified  city  of  late 
Roman  times.     So  the  knights  made  battering  rams  much 
like  the  Roman  ones  and  for  the  same  purpose  of  knock- 
ing down  the  stone  walls.     They  made  movable  towers 
and  catapults  for  throwing  stones.     They  dug  mines  as 
the  Romans  had  done  and  used  scaling  ladders. 

But  of  course  the  castle  men  had  ways  of  protecting 
themselves.  Guards  were  always  in  the  towers  watch- 
ing and  at  sign  of  danger  gave  signal  and  H  & 
called  the  other  fighting  men;  for  in  time  of  castieMen 
siege  the  warriors  slept  ready  for  the  fray,  Could  Pro- 
with  their  swords  at  their  sides.     There  were  te*tThem~ 

selves 

secret  passages  leading  out  of  the  castle  and 
little  strong  gateways  in  hidden  places.  Here  a  little 
body  of  men  sometimes  stole  out  at  night  and  fell  upon 
the  sleeping  camp  and,  after  they  had  quickly  done  some 
mischief,  slipped  back  into  safety  with  only  a  few  men 
lost,  perhaps. 

The  castle  men,  moreover,  had  engines  on  their  wall 
and  sent  stones  crashing  into  tents  and  rolling  towers. 
They  threw  fire  on  the  enemy's  wooden  engines  and 
poured  down  burning  pitch  and  lime  and  boiling  water 
upon  the  men  working  below  with  the  battering  ram  or 
the  scaling  ladders. 


1  To  be  sure,  the  castles  of  Charlemagne's  time  were  not  so  elaborate,  but  the 
later  story-teller  did  not  know  this.  l  See  pages  101-103. 


228  THE   NEWER  NATIONS 

The  Warlike  Spirit  of  the  Age 

The  Middle  Ages  were  a  time  of  fierce  war  and  cruelty. 
I  suppose  it  is  impossible  for  us  in  our  day  to  imagine 
how  much  fighting  there  was.  Every  one  thought  it 
the  only  work  fit  for  a  gentleman.  The  nobles  loved  it 
and  thirsted  for  fight  as  the  old  Vikings  had  done.  It 
was,  moreover,  every  great  noble's  right  to  go  to  war 
whenever  he  pleased,  without  asking  the  consent  of  his 
king  or  his  people. 

The  consequence  was  that  war  was  very  common. 
And  where  war  is  the  chief  business  of  life  we  cannot 
The  expect  to  find  men  gentle  and  kind.     There 

Cruelty  was  in  nearly  every  castle  a  deep  dungeon 
of  the  underground,   without   windows   to   give  light 

and  air,  without  chairs  to  sit  on  or  beds  to  lie 
on.  Here  men  were  sometimes  kepfc  for  months  and 
years,  merely  because  they  were  the  enemies  of  the  castle 
lord  and  had  been  captured.  The  punishments  for  crimi- 
nals were  horrible.  William  the  Conqueror  prided  him- 
self on  his  kindness,  because  he  never  sentenced  a  man  to 
death.  Yet  he  ordered  men's  tongues  cut  out  and  their 
hands  cut  off  and  their  eyes  blinded. 

Many  a  knight  was  vain  of  his  " honor"  as  he  called  it. 
If  a  man  in  a  crowd  accidentally  pushed  against  him,  if 
a  knight  of  less  nobility  walked  before  him  through  a 
doorway,  he  would  throw  his  glove  into  the  offender's 
face,  and  the  other  knight  for  his  honor's  sake  would 
snatch  it  up  angrily.  In  a  few  moments  or  a  few  hours, 
as  soon  as  the  plans  could  be  made,  these  two  men,  on 
horseback  and  in  full  armor,  with  spear  and  sword,  would 
be  fighting  a  duel ;  and  one  of  them  or  both  would  be 
left  wounded  or  dead  on  the  field. 

If  for  a  few  months  there  was  no  war  and  no  cause  for 


CASTLE  LIFE 


229 


a  duel,  the  hunger  for  fighting  grew  into  a  madness 
among  the  knights,  and  one  great  lord  or  another  would 
announce   a  tournament.     Then   there  was  joy  in  the 


A  Tournament 

Seats  have  been  built  for  spectators.     Emperor  and  empress  are  watching. 

Horses  are  wearing  armor.     Two  splintered  spears  on  ground  show  that  this 

is  not  the  first  charge.     One  assailant  has  now  run  the  other  through,  and  the 

heralds  are  blowing  the  end  of  the  tournament 


castles  around  about  and  polishing  of  armor  and  making 
of  new  trappings  for  the  horses  and  surcoats  for  the 
knights.     The  ladies,  too,  were  all  excitement,  each  one 


230  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

hoping  that  her  chosen  knight  would  win,  and  giving  him 
her  glove  or  an  embroidered  sleeve  or  a  bit  of  her  girdle 

to  wear  in  his  helmet.     On  the  great  day  all 
ourna-    ^e  ladies  of  the  district  and   the  greatest  of 

the  lords,  perhaps,  and  the  young  pages  would 
sit  on  tiers  of  benches  that  had  been  built  at  the  sides 
of  a  level  meadow.  On  the  plain  before  them  the 
knights  on  their  war  horses  would  clash  together  in  fight. 
The  battles  were  supposed  to  be  mock  fights,  but  often 
the  mockery  became  real  earnest,  and  perhaps  a  score  of 
knights  would  be  killed,  for  nothing  but  a  game.  A 
man's  life  was  cheap  in  those  days. 

Sir  Thomas  Malory  tells  of  Launcelot,  the  mirror  of 
perfect  knighthood,  how,  at  a  tournament,  for  mere  sport 
and  upholding  of  his  fame,  he  "  thrust  in  with  his  spear 
in  the  thickest  of  the  press,  and  there  he  smote  down 
with  one  spear  five  knights,  and  of  four  of  them  he  brake 
their  backs.  .  .  .  Anon  therewithal  Sir  Launcelot  gat 
[another]  great  spear  in  his  hand,  and,  or  ever  that  great 
spear  brake,  he  bare  down  to  the  earth  sixteen  knights, 
some  horse  and  man,  and  some  the  man  and  not  the  horse, 
and  there  was  none  [he  hit  that  bare  arms  again]  that 
day.  And  then  he  gat  another  great  spear,  and  smote 
down  twelve  knights,  and  the  most  part  of  them  never 
throve  after/'  that  is,  they  died.  And  yet  according  to 
the  same  story  this  was  "the  meekest  man  and  the 
gentlest  that  ever  ate  in  hall  among  ladies." 

Most  of  these  knights  were  nobles.  That  is,  they  and 
How  a  their  fathers  and  their  grandfathers  had  been 
Knight  lords  of  castles  and  wide  lands,  with  vassals 
toward  anc*  servants  t°  do  them  honor.  All  this  had 
Common  made  them  very  proud,  thinking  themselves 
People  much  better  than  men  of  common  blood.  It 
seemed   to  them   that  the  world  had    been  made  for 


CASTLE  LIFE 


231 


noblemen,  and  the  common  people  were  but  to  serve 
them.  The  lords  thought  little  of  trampling  down  the 
poor  men's  crops  in  their  wars  or  their  hunts.  They  had 
loaned  the  land  to  these  farmers,  and  in  return  they 
claimed  from  them  so  much  money  and  so  much  work 
that  the  peasants  were  often 
poor  and  miserable  —  how 
poor  the  next  chapter  will 
tell. 

There  was  another  class  of 
people,  also,  whom  the  nobles 
looked  down  upon :  namely, 
the  merchants.  For  some 
strange  reason  a  noble 
thought  he  had  a  right  to 
take  whatever  he  could  from 
them.  He  made  them  pay 
for  traveling  on  roads  that 
went  through  his  land,  for 
crossing  a  bridge  over  one  of 
his  streams,  for  selling  goods 
in  his  town  near  the  castle. 
If  he  lived  on  a  great  river, 
he  made  the  merchants  who 
passed  in  boats  pay  toll. 

Only  a  man  of  some  wealth 
could  be  a  knight.  He  must  have  steel  armor  to  cover 
his  body,  a  helmet  to  protect  his  head,  a  long  shield  to 
cover  him  from  neck  to  ankles,  a  sword  to  hang 
at  his  side,  a  battle-ax,  and  long  lances.  He  E  ^  ^ents 
must  have  a  strong  horse  to  carry  him  and  his 
heavy  armor.  He  was  not  content  with  a  poor  saddle. 
It  must  be  of  thick  leather  with  carved  pommel,  made, 
if  possible,  in  the  south  of  France,  where  they  did  good 


A  Knight  of  the  Thirteenth 
Century 

His  outer  garment  of  cloth  is  called 
the  surcoat.  His  hood,  gauntlets, 
and  mailed  shirt  are  all  of  one  piece, 
woven  of  iron  links.  Spurs  are  tied 
about  his  ankles 


232  THE   NEWER  NATIONS 

work  in  leather.  His  reins  must  be  embroidered  and 
perhaps  studded  with  jewels,  and  his  beloved  horse  must 
be  gay  with  coverings  of  silk  and  gold  embroidery. 
His  sword  should  be  made  in  Spain  of  steel  so  sharp  that 
it  could  cut  a  silk  scarf  thrown  into  the  air  and  so  tough 
that  it  could  slash  a  shield  of  steel.  Its  handle  he  liked 
to  have  of  gold  with  a  few  precious  stones  shining,  and 
his  spurs,  also,  must  be  of  gold.  He  wanted  his  armor 
made  by  some  famous,  cunning  armorer  so  that  every 
link  would  hold  against  a  sword  stroke.  He  must  have 
a  surcoat  or  cloak  of  embroidered  silk  to  throw  over  his 
armor  when  he  was  riding  at  peace.  He  must  have  at 
least  one  follower,  or  squire,  to  ride  with  him  and  carry  his 
heavy  shield  and  long  lances  in  moments  of  peace  and  to 
help  him  put  on  and  take  off  his  clumsy  armor.  So  most 
knights  were  men  of  wealth. 

Knightly  Ideals  and  Training 

Knighthood  meant  more  than  fighting,  however.  In 
Sir  Thomas  Malory's  old  English  story-book  is  a  descrip- 
tion of  Sir  Launcelot,  the  ideal  knight.  One  of 
his  brother  knights  is  mourning  over  Launcelot's 
dead  body,  saying :  "  Thou  were  the  courtiest 
knight  that  ever  bare  shield;  and  thou  were  the  truest 
friend  to  thy  lover  that  ever  bestrode  horse ;  and  thou 
were  the  truest  lover  of  a  sinful  man  that  ever  loved 
woman ;  and  thou  were  the  kindest  man  that  ever  strake 
with  sword  ;  and  thou  were  the  goodliest  person  ever  came 
among  press  of  knights ;  and  thou  was  the  meekest  man 
and  the  gentlest  that  ever  ate  in  hall  among  ladies ;  and 
thou  were  the  sternest  knight  to  thy  mortal  foe  that  ever 
put  spear  in  the  rest."  That  was  the  knight's  ideal  —  not 
only  to  be  brave  and  strong,  but  to  be  well  mannered  and 
gentle,  to  be  a  true  friend  and  a  lover  of  ladies. 


CASTLE   LIFE  233 

Chaucer,  the  first  great  English  poet,  describes  a  young 
squire  who  is  preparing  for  knighthood.  What  he  says 
shows  that  a  knight  was  not  to  be  a  mere  rough  fighter. 
He  describes  the  squire  as x 

"A  lover  and  lusty  bachelor, 
With  locks  all  curled,  as  they  were  laid  in  press. 
Of  twenty  years  of  age  he  was,  I  guess. 
Of  his  stature  he  was  of  even  length, 
And  wondrous  nimble  he  was  and  great  of  strength.  .  .  . 
Embroidered  was  he  as  it  were  a  mede 
All  full  of  freshest  flowers,  white  and  red. 
Singing  he  was  or  fluting  all  the  day  ; 
He  was  as  fresh  as  is  the  month  of  May. 
Short  was  his  gown,  with  sleeves  both  long  and  wide.  .  .  . 
Well  could  he  sit  on  horse  and  fairly  ride, 
Was  able  songs  to  make  and  well  endite, 
Joust,  too,  and  dance,  and  well  could  draw  and  write. 
Courteous  he  was,  lowly  and  serviceable, 
And  carved  before  his  father  at  the  table." 

Now,  a  young  man  could  not  learn  all  of  these  things 
in  a  moment  —  to  carve  at  the  table,  to  draw  and  write, 
to  make  and  sing  songs,  to  dance  and  to  have 
pretty  manners,  to  ride  his  horse  and  carry  his  Training 
lance  and  swing  his  sword  and  hold  his  shield  hood 
cleverly,  and  to  be  brave  always.     He  had  to  go 
through  a  long  course  of  training.     It  began  when  he 
was  only  a  little  boy.     Sometimes  he  stayed  at  home  for 
his  education ;    but  usually  he  went  to  live  for  years  at 
the  castle  of  some  other  famous  and  wealthy  knight. 

The  castle  family  which  he  entered  might  be  made  up 
of  two  or  three  hundred  people.     The  kitchen  might  be 

1  Chaucer's  poem  was  written  about  1386.  His  strange  old  spelling  and 
some  of  his  old-fashioned  words  make  the  verses  difficult  to  read,  so  I  havq 
changed  them  a  little. 


234 


THE  NEWER  NATIONS 


A  Castle 
Family 


a  great  room  a  hundred  feet  long  and  wide,  with  three  or 
four  huge  fireplaces,  where  whole  deer  and  pigs  and  sheep 
could  hang  and  turn  over  the  coals.  There 
were,  perhaps,  twenty  or  thirty  men  and  boys  to 
cook  and  clean,  running  about  from  kneading 
tables  to  fires  with  great  copper  kettles  or  big  loads  of 
wood  for  the  flame.  At  the  barracks  out  in  the  court- 
yard there  might  be  a  hundred  common  soldiers,  prac- 
tising with  the  crossbow,  a  powerful 
weapon  so  stiff  that  a  man  had  to  pull 
it  back  with  a  crank. 

In  the  ladies'  bower  was  the  lord's 
wife  with  perhaps  twenty  serving 
women.  Some  had  mantles  thrown 
over  their  knees  and  were  embroidering 
the  edges.  Others  sat  before  tapestry 
frames  and  wove  with  bright  threads. 
A  few  were  cutting  and  sewing  new 
robes  of  silk  or  fur.  In  the  meadow 
outside  the  castle  were  perhaps  thirty 
knights,  followers  of  the  lord,  bound 
to  serve  him  at  all  times  and  in  return 
supported  at  his  expense.  They  were  exercising  their 
horses  and  practising  with  their  spears. 

The  boy's  education  began  in  the  ladies'  bower.  He 
chose  one  lady  and  served  her  lovingly  for  several  years 
as  her  page.  He  helped  her  in  every  way  that 
he  could  —  ran  upon  her  errands,  carried  her 
messages,  held  her  horse,  carried  her  falcon,  wound  her 
yarn,  held  her  embroidery  basket.  And  from  her  he 
learned  many  things.  She  told  him  stories  of  the  saints 
and  of  great  knights.  She  taught  him  to  bow  gracefully 
and  to  dance.  Perhaps  she  could  read,  and  spent  an  hour 
a  day  with  him  over  some  huge  book  with  big  letters  and 


Crossbowman 

The  crossbow  -was  the 

most     deadly     weapon 

invented  before  the  use 

of  gunpowder 


The  Page 


CASTLE   LIFE  235 

bright  pictures.  Surely  she  could  sing  and  play  the  harp 
and  helped  him  to  learn  that  art.  She  saw  to  it  that  the 
castle  minstrel  spent  an  hour  now  and  then  with  her 
page  and  taught  him  some  of  his  great  knowledge. 
She  made  sure  that  the  boy  went  frequently  to  church 
and  to  confession,  and  she  talked  with  the  castle  priest 
and  asked  his  help  and  advice  in  training  her  little  page 
to  be  an  honorable,  Christian  knight.  So  the  ladies  and 
the  priest  tried  to  teach  the  boy  knowledge  and  gentle 
manners  before  they  let  him  learn  from  the  knights  the 
fierce  practices  of  war. 

When  the  page  was  large  enough  and  strong  enough 
(perhaps  when  he  was  twelve  or  thirteen  years  old),  he 
became  the  squire  of  some  knight,  as  he  had  before  been 
the  page  of  a  lady.  The  squires  led  busy  lives.  Every 
morning  they  went  to  the  stables  arid  helped  . 

to  care  for  the  war-horses  and  hunting  horses. 
And  well  tended  those  horses  were.  Cloth  of  silk  was  not 
too  fine  to  rub  down  their  shining  coats,  for  they  were 
the  best  beloved  of  their  masters'  hearts.  The  horse 
and  the  knight  had  lived  together  for  many  a  year  in 
peace  and  war.  They  had  often  been  wounded  together. 
Together  they  had  lain  down  at  night  on  a  hard-fought 
field.  Together  they  may  have  fled  in  fear  and  shame 
from  a  lost  battle.  So  it  was  a  young  squire's  great  duty 
and  great  pleasure  to  learn  to  care  for  a  noble  war-horse, 
looking  forward  to  the  time  when  he  should  have  a  shin- 
ing sorrel  of  his  own,  with  thick,  arching  neck  and  high- 
lifted  hoofs  and  nervous  nostrils  and  intelligent  eyes. 

The  squire  served  his  master  in  many  ways.  He  made 
his  bed,  he  stood  behind  him  at  table,  carved  his  meat, 
carried  his  plate,  and  filled  his  cup.  He  helped  him  to 
dress  and  undress.  He  polished  his  helmet  and  sword  and 
shield  until  they  were  like  mirrors.    He  mended  the  leather 


236  THE   NEWER   NATIONS 

dress  that  was  worn  under  the  long  link  armor,  and  he 
kept  it  oiled  and  soft.  He  carefully  inspected  the  armor, 
and  if  a  link  was  broken  or  if  a  sword  or  lance  had  slashed 
it  in  battle,  he  took  the  coat  of  mail  to  the  armorer's 
shop  in  the  castle  court  and  had  it  mended.  But,  best 
of  all,  he  followed  his  lord  to  war,  carried  his  extra  lances 
in  battle,  rescued  him  and  took  him  off  the  field,  if  he  was 
wounded. 

Thus  he  learned  the  things  that  he  needed  to  know. 
And,  besides,  his  knight  taught  him  how  to  mount  a 
horse  in  one  spring,  without  touching  the  stirrup ;  how 
to  receive  a  stroke  with  his  shield  and  so  guard  himself ; 
how  to  hold  his  heavy  lance  firm ;  how  to  swing  the  long- 
sword.  He  tried  to  train  him,  too,  in  courage  and  faith- 
fulness and  courtesy. 

Some  day,  when  the  boy  was  full  grown  and  had  done 
a  brave  deed,  or  by  strength  and  gentleness  had  shown 
himself  worthy  of  knighthood,  his  lord  would 
Kni  htin  knight  him.  That  was  the  greatest  day  of  his 
life.  Perhaps  the  knighting  would  be  done  in 
a  moment,  on  the  field,  after  a  battle  where  the  squire 
had  done  some  brave  thing.  Perhaps  it  would  be  done 
in  the  castle  yard  in  time  of  peace.  In  that  case  the 
squire  would  bathe  and  put  on  fresh,  new  garments,  as 
he  was  to  begin  a  new,  clean  life.  All  night  he  would 
spend  in  the  chapel  before  the  altar,  where  lay  his  sword 
and  lance  and  shield ;  for  every  knight  must  be  a  lover 
of  Christ  and  a  defender  of  the  church,  and  his  weapons 
must  be  consecrated  to  God's  cause. 

But  whether  the  knighting  was  done  in  haste  on  the 
battle-field  or  with  all  gorgeousness  at  home,  among  ad- 
miring friends,  the  great  moment  was  when  the  young 
squire  knelt  before  his  lord,  waiting  to  be  made  a  knight. 
Malory  tells  how  King  Arthur  knighted  Tor.     "Then  Tor 


I  237  J 


238 


THE  NEWER  NATIONS 


The  Knighting 


A  squire  has  done  brave  service  in  a  battle,  and  a  friendly  knight  is  giving  him 

knighthood 

alight  off  his  mare  and  pulled  out  his  sword,  kneeling  and 
requiring  the  king  that  he  would  make  him  knight  and 
that  he  might  be  a  knight  of  the  Table  Round.  'As  for 
a  knight,  I  will  make  you,  •  [said  King  Arthur] ;  and 
therewith  smote  him  in  the  neck  with  the  sword,  saying, 
'  Be  ye  a  good  knight,  and  so  I  pray  to  God  so  ye  may  be, 
and  if  ye  be  of  prowess  and  of  worthiness,  ye  shall  be  a 
knight  of  the  Table  Round/  " 

After  that  stroke  on  the  back  of  the  neck  to  test  his 
courage,  the  young  man  rose,  a  knight.  And  his  lord 
gave  him  a  sword  and  belted  it  on  with  his  own  hands 
and  buckled  golden  spurs  on  the  new  knight's  heels  and 


CASTLE  LIFE  239 

gave  him  a  shield.  Often  he  told  him  what  were  the 
duties  of  a  knight  and  encouraged  him  to  be  worthy  of 
his  new  name. 

Lord  Tennyson,  one  of  the  great  English  poets  of  our 
own  time,  has  King  Arthur  tell  what  he  made  his  knights 
of  the  Round  Table  promise  before  he  would  accept  them : 

"I  made  them  lay  their  hands  in  mine  and  swear 
To  reverence  the  King  as  if  he  were 
Their  conscience,  and  their  conscience  as  their  King, 
To  break  the  heathen  and  uphold  the  Christ, 
To  ride  abroad  redressing  human  wrongs, 
To  speak  no  slander,  no,  nor  listen  to  it, 
To  honor  his  own  word  as  if  his  God's, 
To  lead  sweet  lives  in  purest  chastity, 
To  love  one  maiden  only,  cleave  to  her, 
And  worship  her  by  years  of  noble  deeds.' ' 

Knightly  Pleasures 

The  chief  joy  of  these  knights  was  in  battle,  yet  there 
were  gentler  sports.  About  every  castle  was  good  hunt- 
ing ;   for  farms  were  fewer  then  than  now,  and  TT    ':■ 

Hunting 

there  were  more  forests  and  open  fields.  Deer 
and  wild  boar  and  bear  were  common  in  them.  All  these 
were  good  eating,  and  the  castle  families  were  fond  of 
wild  meats  and  fonder  yet  of  the  excitement  of  the  hunt. 
Every  castle  had  kennels  with  dozens  of  dogs,  and  in  the 
stables  hunting  horses,  smaller  and  quicker  than  the 
knights'  heavy  war-horses. 

Men  went  hunting,  not  in  armor,  as  they  went  to 
battle,  but  in  gay  cloth  suits,  with  fur  capes  flung  over 
their  shoulders,  perhaps,  and  heavy  gloves  to  protect 
their  hands.  Instead  of  swords  they  carried  bows  and 
quivers  of  arrows  or  stout  hunting  spears  and  always  a 
broad,  sharp  knife  in  the  belt ;   for  a  boar  was  a  savage 


240 


THE   NEWER   NATIONS 


beast,  and  sometimes  the  hunter  had  to  protect  himself 
at  short  range. 

Twenty  knights,  perhaps,  would  start  out  from  the 
castle  on  their  prancing  horses,  with  laughter  and  shouting 
and  blowing  of  horns.  Among  them  walked  the  keepers 
of  the  hounds,  holding  back  the  excited  dogs,  that  were 
leaping  and  straining  at  the  end  of  their  leashes.  All 
day  the  party  scoured  the  woods.  The  hounds  tracked 
the  game,  and  the  hunters  followed,  coming  in  with  their 
spears  and  knives  to  kill  the  animal  when  it  was  cornered. 
Hunting  was  a  savage  game,  less  brutal  than  war,  but 
a  good  training  for  warlike  quickness  and  courage.  No 
man  was  thought  a  good  knight  unless  he  was  also  a  good 
hunter,  and  great  and  wise  kings  and  bishops  were  proud 
of  skill  and  courage  in  the  chase.  William  the  Con- 
queror owned  great  "deer  parks"  or  stretches  of  wild 
forest,  where  no  one  was  allowed  to  hunt  except  at  his 

invitation,1  and  the  old  Anglo- 
Saxon  Chronicle  says,  "he 
loved  the  tall  deer,  as  he  were 
their  father."  King  Alfred 
trained  his  own  hounds, 
Charlemagne  was  famous  with 
the  hunting  spear,  and  Fred- 
erick II  was  proud  of  his  hunt- 
ing leopards. 

Hawking  was  a  gentler, 
prettier  sport.  The  ladies,  as 
__    , .         well  as  the  knights, 

Hawking  °       ' 

were  lovers  of  this. 
A  hawking  party  went  to 
hunt  only  rabbits  and  hares  and  such  wild  birds  as  are 
good  to  eat,  —  ducks,  geese,  partridges,  quails,  and  the 

t  See  page  195. 


A  Gentleman  Hawking 
The  bird  is  held  by  leather  thongs 


CASTLE   LIFE  241 

like.  On  the  wrist  of  every  hunter  perched  a  hawk  or 
falcon,  carefully  trained  and  tended  at  the  falcon  house 
in  the  castle  yard.  As  the  gay  party  rode  along,  chatting 
and  laughing,  the  falcon's  head  was  hooded,  so  that  he 
could  not  see  to  fly  away.  He  was,  moreover,  held  by  a 
little  silver  chain  or  leather  leash  attached  to  his  leg.  As 
the  party  entered  the  wood,  they  grew  more  quiet,  lest 
they  might  frighten  the  game,  and  they  scattered  through 
the  forest  in  twos  or  threes. 

If  a  hunter  caught  sight  of  a  flying  duck,  he  took  off 
the  hood  from  his  hawk's  head  and  loosed  the  leash  from 
its  leg.  In  a  moment  the  falcon's  sharp  eyes  saw  the 
game.  A  spring,  and  he  was  in  the  air,  flying  with  his 
strong  wings  toward  the  bird.  Once  or  twice  he  circled 
above  it,  then  fell  upon  it  with  his  savage  talons  and 
beak  and  killed  it.  The  hunter,  eagerly  watching,  at  this 
moment  blew,  on  a  little  silver  whistle,  a  note  that  his 
hawk  knew.  The  falcon,  hearing  the  call,  dropped  the 
bird  and,  flying  to  his  master,  settled  upon  his  wrist  to 
be  petted  and  fed  some  tidbit. 

Meantime  a  servant  let  go  a  dog,  which  sought  out  the 
dead  game  and  brought  it  back.  At  the  end  of  the  day 
dozens  of  birds  would  be  hanging  at  saddlebows.  The 
party  would  return  to  feast  in  the  castle  hall,  to  sit  about 
the  fire  and  tell  tales  of  their  clever  falcons,  to  hear  the 
minstrel  sing  of  the  joys  of  hawking  in  the  greenwood. 

Folk  in  castle  days  were  great  lovers  of  poetry.     There 

were  few  books  to  read,  and  few  people  could 

read  them.     Instead,  there  was  the  minstrel,  for 

the  common   folk.     He*  wandered  about  from  town  to 

town,  afoot,  with  a  stick  and  a  bundle  over 

his  shoulder  and  a  viol  slung  at  his  back.     At  ^ Mmstre 

i  ?  i     Sons 

some  busy  street  corner,   where  many  people 

passed,  he  would  unsling  his  viol  and  begin  thrumming  the 


242  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

strings.  At  the  merry  sound  doors  would  open ;  feet  would 
begin  running ;  glad  shouts  would  be  raised ;  and  men, 
women,  and  children  would  crowd  about.  Then  the  min- 
strel, while  he  played  on  his  viol,  would  begin  singing, 
perhaps  a  song  like  this  good  old  ballad  of  Scotland : 

Ye  Highlands,  and  ye  Lowlands, 

Oh,  where  have  you  been  ? 
They  have  slain  the  Earl  of  Murray, 

And  they  laid  him  on  the  green. 

"  Now  wae  be  to  thee,  Huntly ! 

And  wherefore  did  ye  sae  ? 
I  bade  you  bring  him  wi'  you, 

But  forbade  you  him  to  slay." 

He  was  a  braw  gallant, 

And  he  rid  at  the  ring ; 1 
And  the  bonny  Earl  of  Murray, 

Oh,  he  might  have  been  a  king ! 

He  was  a  braw  gallant, 

And  he  played  at  the  ba' ; 
And  the  bonny  Earl  of  Murray 

Was  the  flower  amang  them  a\ 

He  was  a  braw  gallant, 

And  he  played  at  the  glove ; 
And  the  bonny  Earl  of  Murray, 

Oh,  he  was  the  queen's  love. 

Oh,  lang  will  his  lady 

Look  o'er  the  Castle  l3owne, 
E'er  she  see  the  Earl  of  Murray 

Come  sounding  through  the  town ! 

*A  game  in  which  the  knight,  riding  at  a  gallop,  tried  with  his  spear  to  pick 
off  rings  huner  on  a  standard. 


CASTLE   LIFE 


243 


Almost  every  castle  had  a  poet  of  its  own.  There  he 
lived  and  did  his  work  —  the  making  and  singing  of 
pretty  songs.  At  weddings  and  on  birthdays 
and  gay  holidays  he  must  make  special  new  ^ts°as  e 
lays  and  stand  up  when  the  company  was 
gathered  at  dinner  and  sing  for  their  delight.  On  the 
evenings  of  common  days,  too,  the  big  family  gathered 
in  the  great  hall  to  talk  and  tell  stories,  and  at  last  the 
minstrel  must  sing.  Perhaps  the  lord  would  give  him  a 
subject  —  love  or  a  battle  or  yesterday's  hunt  —  and 
would  demand  a  new  song  made  up  on  the  moment. 


The  King  Dines 
The  minstrel  often  played  as  the  servants  brought  in  the  food 

There  are  very  few  people  who  can  do  that  thing,  but 
some  of  these  old  poets  were  clever  at  it. 

Some  of  the  castle  poets  had  great  genius,  and  they 
found  one  lord's  castle  too  small.     Most  of  them  loved 
adventure   and   found   settled   life   too   tame. 
Then  they  took  to  the  road.     If  they  were  ^ren?h 

,  ,  .  1      i«  i       t<<   Trouba- 

poor,  they  went  afoot,  as  the  minstrels  did.     11  dours 
one  was  richer,  he  rode  on  a  horse,  with  a  mule 
to  carry  his  harp  and  viol  and  his  precious  book  or  two 
and  his  extra  clothing.     Perhaps  there  was  a  boy  to  lead 
the  mule  and  to  wait  upon  the  master. 


244  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

Such  a  singer  in  southern  France  was  called  a  trouba- 
dour, and  there  were  scores  of  them  in  that  rich,  song- 
loving  land.  The  names  of  four  hundred  are  still  re- 
membered and  many  of  their  songs  preserved  in  books. 
A  famous  troubadour  went  only  to  the  great  castles,  where 
he  would  find  men  and  women  of  education  who  would 
appreciate  his  poetry  and  who  could  pay  him  well;  for 
poets  must  live.  When  he  approached  the  castle,  there 
would  be  a  great  stir.  The  guard  would  quickly  let  down 
the  drawbridge  and  pull  up  the  portcullis  and  would 
send  a  message  to  his  lord  and  lady,  "A  troubadour  has 
come!" 

When  the  family  gathered  at  dinner  that  night,  there 
would  be  more  bright  looks  and  more  gay  laughter  than 
usual.  Perhaps,  if  it  was  spring,  and  the  air 
was  sweet,  the  lord  would  order  the  midday 
meal  in  the  garden  outside  the  moat  on  the  river  bank. 
That  was  a  busy  scene,  with  dozens  of  serving  boys  run- 
ning about  under  the  high  trees,  carrying  trestles  and 
boards  for  the  tables,  great  platters  of  steaming  meats, 
drinking  cups  of  silver  and  even  a  few  of  gold  for  the 
ladies.  Perhaps  two  servants  together  would  proudly 
carry  a  silver  plate  with  the  greatest  delicacy  of  all  —  a 
roast  peacock,  its  beautiful  feathers  all  carefully  saved 
and  so  arranged  over  the  roasted  body  that  the  bird 
seemed  alive  and  spreading  its  proud  tail. 

But  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  that  company  were 

more  gay  than  any  peacock.     The  women  were  in  long 

robes  of  shining  silk  that  trailed  rustling  over 

A  G3.V 

Company  ^e  grass.  And  not  a  lady  was  content  with 
one  color  in  her  dress.  Perhaps  a  long  robe 
of  deep  blue  fell  from  her  neck  to  her  toes,  and  it  was 
all  embroidered  over  with  little  apples  of  gold.  The  wide 
cuffs  under  her  hands  dropped  so  low  that  they  brushed 


CASTLE   LIFE 


245 


the  grass,  and  they  were  lined  with  green,  like  the  lights 
in  the  peacock's  tail.  There  hung  from  her  shoulders  a 
mantle  of  dark  wine  color,  and  around  all  its  edge  was  a 
wide  embroidery  of  golden  .flowers  and  leaves  of  green 
like  the  long  cuffs.  She  and  her  ladies  had  kept  their 
needles  busy  on  it  for  half  a  year.  And  about  her  body 
was  wound  a  wonderful  girdle,  all  braided  and 
twisted  and  embroidered  like  a  Persian  rug. 

The  gentlemen  were  quite  as  gay,  with  em- 
broidered capes  and  crimson  shoes  and  pointed 
hoods  of  bright  silk  and  rich  fur  at  neck  and 
wrists,  and  every  one  with  a  jeweled  dagger 
thrust  into  his  belt,  a  golden  chain  about  his 
neck,  and  shining  rings  on  his  fingers. 

When  dinner  was  ended,  perhaps  the  lord 
himself  took  the  harp  and  sang  a  song  of  his 
own  making  and  afterwards  sent  the 
harp  to  another  and  asked  for  a  lay.  dour  s "  s 
But  soon  he  called  for  the  visiting 
troubadour,  and  there  was  glad  clapping  of 
hands  from  the  company.  Perhaps  the  poet 
would  sing  of  his  lady ;  for  every  troubadour 
was  a  lover.  Sometimes  he  was  a  knight  and  a  lover 
of  war  as  well  as  of  ladies.  This  song  was  made  by 
such  a  man  —  lord  of  a  castle,  a  fierce  fighter,  a  friend 
of  kings : 


A  Lady 


I  love  the  spring  tide  of  the  year 
When  leaves  and  blossoms  do  abound, 
And  well  it  pleases  me  to  hear 
The  birds  that  make  the  woods  resound 
With  their  exulting  voices. 
And  very  well  it  pleases  me 
Tents  and  pavilions  pitched  to  see, 
And  oh,  my  heart  rejoices 


246 


THE   NEWER  NATIONS 


A  Royal  Harper 

The  artist  has   kindly  given  crowns   to  everybody  except  the  servant.     The 

harper  is  playing  while  the  meal  goes  on.     Doubtless  all  the  few  dishes  are  of 

gold  or  silver.     Dogs  were  commonly  allowed  in  the  dining  hall 

To  see  armed  knights  in  panoply 
Of  war  on  meadow  and  on  lea. 
Not  so  much  joy  in  sleep  have  I, 
Eating  and  drinking  please  me  less 
Than  hearing  on  all  sides  the  cry 
'At  them  I*  and  horses  riderless 
Among  the  woodlands  neighing. 
And  well  I  like  to  hear  the  call 
Of  'Help !'  and  see  the  wounded  fall, 
Loudly  for  mercy  praying ; 
And  see  the  dead  both  great  and  small, 
Pierced  by  sharp  spearheads,  one  and  all. 

To  us  this  seems  a  brutal  song,  but  the  castle  com- 
pany that  listened  hundreds  of  years  ago  liked  it  very 
much,  I  am  sure.  Every  knight  remembered 
his  own  battles  and  felt  his  heart  leap  with  the 
savage  joy  of  fight,  and  he  shouted  applause. 
Even  the  ladies  clapped  their  hands ;  for  they, 
too,  thought  that  war  was  noble.     Surely  the  lord  of  the 


How 
Trouba- 
dours Were 
Paid 


CASTLE   LIFE  247 

castle  was  pleased  with  the  song  and  invited  the  trouba- 
dour to  be  his  guest  as  long  as  he  would  —  for  months 
or  for  years.  But  the  poet  was  doubtless  a  rover,  like 
all  his  fellows,  and  after  a  summer  or  two  sought  another 
castle  and  new  companions. 

The  Time  of  Chivalry 

Nobody  can  tell  when  chivalry  or  knighthood  began. 
Doubtless  the  people  of  the  very  time  when  it  was  start- 
ing did  not  know  what  was  happening,  for  things  begin 
quietly  and  change  as  they  .grow.  But  we  know  that 
there  were  knights  in  the  year  1096.  Yet  we  cannot 
tell  how  long  before  that  knighthood  may  have  existed. 

It  is  as  hard  to  tell  when  knighthood  ended  as  when 
it  began.  Indeed,  kings  of  England  even  to-day  dub 
men  knights,  but  a  modern  knight  is  a  very  different 
kind  of  person  from  a  knight  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
Those  men  of  earlier  times,  who  dressed  in  steel  armor, 
carried  lances  and  swords,  loved  to  fight,  lived  in  stone 
castles,  listened  to  troubadours  —  when  did  they  disap- 
pear? They  did  not  drop  out  of  the  world  all  at  once. 
Slowly  all  things  changed  —  costumes,  laws,  ways  of 
thinking. 

The  change  which  had  most  to  do  with  the  dis- 
appearance of  the  old-time  knights  was  in  the  kind  of 
fighting.  About  1340  the  people  of  western  Europe 
began  to  use  gunpowder,  which  they  had  learned  of  in 
their  Eastern  travels.  Now,  gunpowder  will  send  a  ball 
through  a  man's  armor,  and  a  cannon  ball  will  tear  through 
a  castle  wall.  So,  gradually,  as  men  invented  stronger 
guns,  they  put  off  their  useless,  clumsy  armor  and 
abandoned  their  useless,  gloomy  castles. 

Yet  all  over  western  Europe  we  have  many  of  these 
castles  left  —  some  in  ruins  and  some  that  have  been 


248 


THE  NEWER  NATIONS 


kept  in  repair.  The  king  of  England  still  lives  in  castles 
that  were  built  hundreds  of  years  ago,  though  they  have 
been  enlarged,  and  modern  comforts  have  been  added. 
In  museums  we  have,  too,  some  of  the  very  armor  that 
those  olden  knights  wore.  Stored  in  books  we  still  have 
many  old  troubadour  songs  and  many  a  knightly  story. 

But  the  best  thing  that  the  people  of  the  Middle  Ages 
have  left  us  is  the  knightly  ideal  of  what  a  man  ought 

to  be.  Few  knights 
lived  up  to  it,  of 
course;  and  in  the 
hundreds  of  years 
since  then  we  have 
learned  that  war  is 
hideous  and  not 
glorious,  that  work 
is  noble  and  not 
shameful,  and  that 
all  men  have  equal 
rights.  These  are 
the  things  that  the 
knights  did  not 
know.  And  yet 
when  we  now  want 
to  say  that  a  man  is  most  honorable  in  the  keeping  of 
promises,  true  to  his  friend  and  courteous  to  his  enemy; 
that  a  lie  never  stains  his  lips ;  that  his  manner  is  gentle 
and  beautiful,  — we  call  him  "  knightly." 


Knight 


In  this  knight's    time  fashions  are  beginning  to 

change  from  the  old  link  armor  to  plate  armor. 

The  saddle  is  planned  to  brace  the  knight  against 

a  thrust 


1.  Make  a  play  in  which  a  vassal  swears  fealty  to  his  lord. 
2.  Model  a  castle  in  clay,  each  one  in  the  class  making  one  building 
or  a  part  of  the  wall.  3.  In  sand  model  a  country  with  hills,  valleys, 
and  rivers,  then  choose  a  place  for  a  castle.  4.  Did  feudalism  last 
longer  in  France  or  Germany?     Can  you  tell  why? 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  WORKERS 

The  knights  were  few,  and  the  common  people  whom 
they  scorned  were  many.  Doubtless  most  of  those  who 
read  this  book  are  descended,  not  from  some  knight  of 
the  Middle  Ages,  but  from  some  farmer  or  trader  or 
craftsman.  These  common  people  were  oppressed,  and 
they  began  the  long,  hard  fight  for  freedom  and  comfort 
that  we  are  still  fighting.  Facts  like  these  ought  to  make 
the  common  men  more  interesting  to  us  than  the  fine 
castle  folk. 

Farmers 

Common  people  in  the  Middle  Ages  did  not  own  land, 
as  our  farmers  do ;  they  only  borrowed  it  from  the  great 
people  —  knights,  lords,  bishops.1  One  of  those 
gentlemen  might  own  several  thousand  acres 
of  land,  scattered  in  pieces  through  the  country.  Each 
piece  was  called  a  manor,  and  it  had  upon  it  a  castle  or  a 
strong  house.  Perhaps  the  lord  himself  lived  here,  or 
perhaps  only  an  agent,  who  took  care  of  the  manor  for 
him.  But  however  that  was,  neither  the  lord  nor  the  agent 
really  worked  the  land.  There  was  too  much  of  it  for 
one  man  to  till,  so  it  was  divided  up  in  a  strange  way. 

Some  of  it  the  lord  kept  for  himself  and  called  it  his 
domain,  or  demesne.  On  this  he  had  grain  fields;  an 
orchard  of  apple  and  pear  trees,  perhaps;  and  a  garden 
where  grew  onions,  mustard,  cabbage,  peas,  and  beans. 

)  See  pages  214-216, 
249 


250  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

Another  part  of  the  land  was  divided  into  three  fields, 
each  as  large  as  one  of  our  farms,  with  perhaps  two  or 
three  hundred  acres  in  it.  On  one  great  field  was  planted 
wheat,  the  best  crop ;  on  another,  oats ;  and  the  third 
field  was  left  unplanted  and  was  used  as  a  pasture  for 
cattle  or  sheep.  The  next  spring  wheat  was  planted  on 
last  year's  oat  field,  oats  on  the  old  pasture,  and  last 
season's  wheat  field  was  left  unplanted.  People  rotated 
the  crops  in  this  way  because  the  land  wore  out  if  they 
planted  wheat  on  it  year  after  year. 

These  were  the  fields  that  were  loaned  out  to  the  com- 
mon people.  Perhaps  a  hundred  families  shared  this 
land.  It  was  cut  up  into  long,  narrow  strips,  with  lines 
of  wild  grass  between  instead  of  fences.  Each  man  had 
a  strip  here  and  a  strip  there,  perhaps  as  much  as  thirty 
acres,  scattered  about  through  the  three  fields. 

Of  course,  he  might  not  work  these  just  as  he  pleased 

—  plant  what  he  liked  and  harvest  when  he  would.     He 

had  to  do  what  all  his  fellows  did.     He  had  to 

Woerkarm    let  his  strips  in  the  fallow  field  lie  fallow  when 

his  neighbors  planned.     On  his  strips  in  the  oat 

field,  too,  he  had  to  plant  oats;   and  in  the  wheat  field, 


The  Ox-plow 


wheat;  as  other  men  wished.  Moreover,  he  had  to 
plow  when  his  fellows  plowed,  plant  when  his  fellows 
planted,  and  harvest  when  his  fellows  harvested.  For  it 
needed  four  oxen  to  pull  a  plow,  and  in  clay  soil  eight; 


Waste 


•Wasfti 


Plan  op  a  Manor 

Showing  the  three  fields  divided  into  strips.     The  black  strips  are  those 

belonging  to  one  villain 

[251 1 


252 


THE  NEWER  NATIONS 


and  no  poor  man  could  own  as  many  as  that,  with  plows 
and  carts  besides.  So  one  man  furnished  a  plow,  three 
or  four  others  an  ox  apiece,  another  perhaps  two  oxen. 
One  day  one  man  held  the  plow,  and  another  drove  the 
oxen,  while  their  fellows  dug  the  drain  ditches. 


httdiflMKSiHattM__ 

Cutting  Grain 
Women  are  doing  the  work  with  hand  sickles. 

When  harvest  time  came,  they  all  went  together  to 
the  great  field,  each  to  his  own  strip.  The  wives  and 
children,  too,  were  there,  every  one  with  a  little  sickle  in 
his  hand.  So  the  big  patchwork  field  was  dotted  over 
with  moving  figures,  bending  and  swaying,  and  with 
crisscross  rows  of  standing  grain  and  fallen  grain.  At 
rest  time  several  families  came  together,  I  suppose,  in 


Stacking  the  Sheaves 

friendly  fashion  and  ate  their  bread  and  cheese  and 
shared  their  cider  and  ale  from  the  leather  jugs.  And  the 
children,  doubtless,  ran  to  the  wild  patches  between  the 
planted  strips  and  played  hide-and-seek  among  the  shrubs, 
and  picked  daisies  and  made  chains. 


THE  WORKERS  253 

When  the  grain  was  all  cut,  the  workers  raked  it  up 
with  hand  rakes  and  bound  it  into  sheaves.  Then  one 
lent  his  cart  with  its  heavy  wooden  wheels,  another  lent 
his  two  oxen  to  draw  it,  the  harvesters  piled  it  high  with 
bundles  and  hauled  it  to  the  big  barn.  There  they 
spread  the  wheat  thinly  over  the  floor  and  with  wooden 
flails  beat  out  the  grain  from  the  heads.  Then  they  raked 
it  into  piles  and  with  fans  blew  away  the  chaff  and  straw. 
After  that  every  man  came  with  the  woolen  sacks  his 
wife  had  woven,  and  claimed  his  share  of  the  grain,  ac- 
cording to  the  amount  of  land  he  held. 

Some  one  has  called  these  manors  "  little  islands  of 
cultivation  in  a  great  waste/ '  for  western  Europe  was 
thinly  peopled  in  those  days.     AH  about  the 
manor  lay  a  sea  of  untitled  land.     Perhaps  it  Isolation 
was  wild  forest  where  the  lord  might  hunt,  where  Manor 
the  peasants'  pigs  might  feed,  where  the  tenants 
might  get  wood  for  their  fires  and  lumber  for  their  build- 
ing.    Or  perhaps  it  was  rocky  hillsides  or  rolling  moor- 
land where  sheep  might  feed.     Perhaps  it  was  marsh- 
land where  wild  hay  might  be  cut  or  peat  taken  out  for 
fuel.     Whatever  it  was,  it  cut  off  the  manor  from  the  rest 
of  the  world.     For  there  were  few  roads  made  through  it, 
and  many  robbers  lurking  in  it.     Few  men,  even  if  their 
lords  had  encouraged  them  to  travel,  would  have  chosen 
to  set  off  on  foot  through  this  dangerous  wilderness. 
Besides,  they  would  not  have  known  how  far  it  was  to 
the  nearest  manor  or  in  what  direction  it  lay. 

Few  peasants,  therefore,  ever  trod  any  soil  but  that 
of  their  own  manor,  ever  saw  any  methods  of  work  except 
those  of  their  own  fellows.  Very  seldom,  indeed,  did 
they  even  see  anybody  that  they  had  not  known  all  their 
lives.  If  ever  a  visiting  lord  or  king's  agent,  with  his 
dozen  armed  followers,  or  trader  with  his  pack-horse,  did 


254  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

ride  out  of  the  great  forest,  it  was  an  exciting  day  for  all 
the  people  on  the  manor,  and  for  months  they  talked  of  the 
visitors'  strange  ways  and  strange  dress  and  strange  speech. 
So  the  people  in  one  " little  island  of  cultivation"  were 
knit  very  close  together.  They  had  to  do  almost  every- 
thing for  themselves.  They  made  their  own  farm  tools. 
They  grew  their  own  wheat,  and  their  own  lord's  miller 
ground  it  into  flour.  They  killed  their  own  pigs  and 
smoked  their  own  bacon  and  hams.    They  sheared  their 


Hauling  the  Cart-load  Uphill 
The  horses  are  harnessed  tandem 

own  sheep,  spun  the  wool,  wove  the  yarn,  and  made  their 
own  clothes.  Their  own  lord  or  his  agent  held  court 
three  times  a  year  in  the  manor  house  and  heard  all  com- 
plaints and  punished  all  crimes.  They  went  to  the  church 
in  the  heart  of  the  manor,  and  in  the  graveyard  beside  it 
buried  their  dead. 

For  these  farmers  were  not  free  men.     They  belonged 

to  the  lord  who  owned  the  land.     They  were 
Services'1     not  exactly  his  slaves,  for  he  might  not  kill  them 

or  sell  them  away  from  the  land,  but  in  all  mat- 
ters they  had  to  obey  him.    Moreover,  they  had  to  work  for 


THE  WORKERS 


255 


him  in  return  for  the  use  of  his  land  and  for  the  protec- 
tion which  he  gave  them.1  In  the  spring  they  had  to  go 
to  his  field  and  do  his  plowing  before  they  did  their 
own.  At  harvest  time  they  cut  his  wheat  and  threshed 
it.  Sometimes  they  furnished  the  plows  and  oxen  and 
carts  and  sickles ;  sometimes  the  lord  had  his  own  tools. 
Each  man  did  much  or  little,  according  to  the  amount  of 
land  he  used.  In  fact,  just  as  a  great  lord  loaned  out  his 
land  to  knights  and  called  them  to  help  do  his  fighting, 
so  a  lesser  lord  loaned  his  land  to  common  men  and  called 


Harrowing 

The  medieval  artist  did  not  know  how  to  represent  the  harrow  lying  flat.     A 
man  is  slinging  stones  at  the  birds 

them  to  do  his  farm  work  of  all  kinds.  Besides  that,  just 
as  the  knights  had  to  give  money  to  their  lords  at  certain 
times,  so  these  common  people  had  to  give  presents  to 
their  lords. 

For  instance,  a  certain  man  used  about  thirty  acres  of 
land  and  in  payment  had  to  do  the  following  things  for 
his  lord :  eighty-two  days'  work  between  Michaelmas 
[September  29th]  and  June  24th ;  eleven  and  a  half  days' 
work  between  June  24th  and  August  1st ;  nineteen  days' 
work  between  August  1st  and  Michaelmas;  six  extra 
days'  work  with  one  extra  man;  one  extra  day's  work 
with  two  men  for  reaping,  with  food  from  the  lord ;  half 
a  carriage  [this  means,  I  suppose,  that  he  and  another 

1  See  pages  163  and  215-216. 


256  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

peasant  together  furnished  a  wagon  with  oxen  to  haul  it] 
for  carrying  the  wheat ;  half  a  carriage  for  the  hay ;  the 
plowing  and  harrowing  of  an  acre;  one  day's  harrow- 
ing of  oat  land ;  one  horse  load  of  wood ;  making  one- 
quarter  1  of  malt  and  drying  it ;  one  day's  work  at  wash- 
ing and  shearing  sheep ;  one  day's  hoeing ;  one  day's 
nutting ;  three  days'  mowing ;  one  day's  work  in  carry- 
ing to  the  stack ;  help  once  a  year  at  the  lord's  will. 

A  certain  other  man  used  only  a  tiny  spot  of  ground  in 
front  of  his  house,  and  owed  only  "one  day's  work  on 
Monday  in  every  week  unless  a  festival  prevents  him, 
one  hen  at  Christmas,  and  five  eggs  at  Easter."  Some 
men  were  especially  good  carpenters  or  blacksmiths  and 
paid  for  their  land  by  repairing  the  wooden  carts,  harrows, 
and  plow  frames,  by  making  horseshoes,  or  by  keeping 
the  plowshares  and  scythes  and  hoes  in  order. 

Besides  all  these  regular  dues,  the  lords  made  many 
special  demands.  If  a  man's  daughter  married,  he  had 
to  make  a  present  to  the  lord.  If  his  son  wished  to  go  to 
school,  he  had  to  buy  the  lord's  permission.  If  a  pig  was 
killed,  the  lord  had  to  have  his  share.  A  man  might  not 
grind  his  own  wheat  in  his  own  little  hand  mill,  but  had  to 
take  it  to  the  lord's  mill  and  pay  toll  for  the  work.  Indeed 
a  villain,  or  peasant,  could  hardly  turn  over  his  hand 
without  having  to  pay. 

As  a  result  of  all  these  dues  the  peasants  were  very- 
poor,  and  their  lives  were  hard  and  unlovely.  Their 
houses  were  mean  little  things  of  wood,  with 

ff  to"1™8  only  one  room  and  a  dirt  floor-  At  night  the 
Peasants      family  climbed  a  ladder  to  a  loft  under  the 

thatched  roof  and  slept  in  their  day  clothes  on 
piles  of  straw.  In  the  room  below  was  very  little  furni- 
ture —  a  table  on  sawhorses,  a  chest  or  two,  a  few  stools, 

1  Eight  bushels. 


THE  WORKERS  257 

a  brass  pot,  some  wooden  bowls,  a  loom  for  weaving. 
A  little  fire  burned  on  the  floor,  with  no  chimney  but 
only  a  hole  in  the  roof  to  carry  off  the  smoke.  Even  in 
the  long  winter  nights  the  family  went  to  bed  at  dark, 
for  candles  were  costly. 

Their  food  would  seem  poor  to  us.  There  were  no 
sweet  cakes  or  puddings,  little  fresh  fruit,  and  few  green 
vegetables.  Fish  and  peas,  or  pork  and  cabbage,  were 
thrown  into  a  pot  and  boiled  and  set  on  the  table  in  one 
dish.  Every  one  used  his  fingers  or  a  piece  of  bread  to 
handle  his  food. 

In  1362  there  was  a  common  people's  poet  in  England, 
—  William  Langland,  himself  a  poor  man.  This  is  the 
picture  he  gives  of 

"the  poor  in  the  cottage, 
Charged  with  a  crew  of  children  and  with  a  landlord's  rent. 
What  they  win  by  their  spinning  to  make  their  porridge  with, 
Milk  and  meal,  to  satisfy  the  babes  — 
The  babes  that  continually  cry  for  food  — 
This  they  must  spend  on  the  rent  of  their  houses, 
Ay,  and  themselves  suffer  with  hunger, 
With  woe  in  winter  rising  a-nights, 
In  the  narrow  room  to  rock  the  cradle, 
Carding,   combing,   clouting,   washing,  rubbing,  winding,  and 

peeling  of  rushes. 
Pitiful  is  it  to  read  the  cottage  women's  woe, 
Ay,  and  many  another  that  puts  a  good  face  on  it, 
Ashamed  to  beg,  ashamed  to  let  neighbors  know 
All  that  they  need,  noontide  and  evening. 
Many  the  children  and  nought  but  a  man's  hands 
To  clothe  and  feed  them ;  and  few  pennies  come  in, 
And  many  mouths  to  eat  the  pennies  up." 

In  some  countries  the  lord  had  the  right  to  punish  his 
villains  almost  as  he  would,  —  to  fine  them,  to  brand 


258  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

them  with  red-hot  iron,  to  cut  off  their  hands,  to  take 
their  land  from  them  and  turn  them  out  of  their  homes. 
And  some  landlords  there  were  who  served  their  people 
in  this  way. 

But  if  the  lord  was  just  and  kind,  his  villains  might 
prosper.  They  might  buy  their  sons'  freedom,  send 
The  them  to   school,   and  make  priests  of   them, 

struggle  They  might  pay  money  to  the  lord  for  rent, 
for  Free-     instead  of  taking  two  days  out  of  the  week  to 

do  his  work  while  their  own  fields  lay  neg- 
lected. They  might  even  buy  his  permission  to  leave 
their  land,  to  go  to  a  town  or  to  another  manor  and  work 
there  for  wages  as  free  men.  No  lord  could  claim  work 
or  gifts  from  these  men  or  could  punish  them  in  his  court. 
Freedom  of  this  sort  was  the  highest  ambition  of  every 
villain.  But  it  was  a  difficult  thing  to  gain.  Life  was 
so  hard  that  few  men  could  save  enough  to  buy  free- 
dom. Sometimes  they  tried  to  gain  it  by  running  away 
through  the  forest  to  some  other  place.  If  such  a  man 
was  not  caught  within  a  year  and  a  day  the  law  declared 
that  he  should  be  a  free  man  and  that  his  lord  had  no 
right  to  him.  But  generally  he  was  found  before  the  year 
was  out.  Then  he  was  taken  back  to  his  old  manor,  was 
whipped  and  branded,  and  was  worse  off  than  before. 

Once  the  common  people  of  England  banded  together 
against  their  lords  and  tried  to  gain  freedom  by  force  of 

arms.  Froissart  tells  the  story  of  this  "  Great 
"The  Revolt."     He   was   a   lover   of   nobles   and   a 

Revolt"       scorner  of  the  common  people,  yet  even  as  he 

tells  the  tale  we  can  see  that  this  was  a  brave, 
desperate  attempt  to  get  the  people's  just  rights.  It  is 
as  inspiring  a  story  as  that  of  the  gaining  of  the  Great 
Charter,  but  a  sadder  one,  because  in  spite  of  its  justice 
and  in  spite  of  men's  earnestness,  it  failed. 


THE  WORKERS 


259 


Froissart  says:  "It  is  customary  in  England,  as  well 
as  in  several  other  countries,  for  the  nobility  to  have 
great  privileges  over  the  common  people ;  that  is  to  say, 
the  lower  orders  are  bound  by  law  to  plow  the  lands  of 
the  gentry,  to  harvest  their  grain,  to  carry  it  home  to  the 
barn,  to  thrash  and  winnow  it.  They  are  also  bound  to 
harvest  and  carry  home  the  hay.  All  these  services  the 
prelates  and  gentlemen  exact  of  their  inferiors;  and  in 
the  counties  of  Kent,  Essex,  Sussex,  and  Bedford,  these 
services  are  more  oppressive  than  in  other  parts  of  the 
kingdom.  In  con- 
sequence of  this 
the  evil-disposed 
in  these  districts 
began  to  murmur, 
saying,  that  in  the 
beginning  of  the 
world  there  were 
no  slaves,  and  that 
no  one  ought  to  be 
treated  as  such, 
unless  he  had  committed  treason  against  his  lord,  as 
Lucifer  had  done  against  God;  but  they  had  done  no 
such  thing,  for  they  were  neither  angels  nor  spirits,  but 
men  formed  after  the  same  likeness  as  these  lords  who 
treated  them  as  beasts.  This  they  would  bear  no  longer ; 
they  were  determined  to  be  free,  and  if  they  labored  or 
did  any  work,  they  would  be  paid  for  it. 

"A  crazy  priest  in  the  county  of  Kent,  called  John 
Ball,  who  for  his  absurd  preaching  had  thrice  been  con- 
fined in  prison  by  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  was 
greatly  instrumental  in  exciting  these  rebellious  ideas. 
Every  Sunday  after  mass,  as  the  people  were  coming  out 
of  church,  this  John  Ball  was  accustomed  to  assemble  a 


Threshing  with  Flails 


2<5o  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

crowd  around  him  in  the  market-place  and  preach  to 
them.  On  such  occasions  he  would  say,  '  My  good  friends, 
matters  cannot  go  on  well  in  England  until  all  things 
shall  be  in  common ;  when  there  shall  be  neither  vassals 
nor  lords ;  when  the  lords  shall  be  no  more  masters  than 
ourselves.  How  ill  they  behave  to  us !  For  what  reason 
do  they  thus  hold  us  in  bondage?  Are  we  not  all  de- 
scended from  the  same  parents,  Adam  and  Eve?  And 
what  can  they  show,  or  what  reason  can  they  give,  why 
they  should  be  more  masters  than  ourselves?  They  are 
clothed  in  velvet  and  rich  stuffs,  ornamented  with  ermine 
and  other  furs,  while  we  are  forced  to  wear  poor  clothing. 
They  have  wines,  spices,  and  fine  bread,  while  we  have 
only  rye  and  the  refuse  of  straw ;  and  when  we  drink,  it 
must  be  water.  They  have  handsome  seats  and  manors, 
while  we  must  brave  the  wind  and  rain  in  our  labors  in 
the  field ;  and  it  is  by  our  labor  they  have  wherewith  to 
support  their  pomp.  We  are  called  slaves,  and  if  we  do 
not  perform  our  service  we  are  beaten,  and  we  have  no 
sovereign  to  whom  we  can  complain  or  who  would  be 
willing  to  hear  us.  Let  us  go  to  the  king  [Richard  II, 
great-great-great-grandson  of  King  John]  and  remonstrate 
with  him ;  he  is  young,  and  from  him  we  may  obtain  a 
favorable  answer,  and  if  not  we  must  ourselves  seek  to 
amend  our  condition.' 

"With  such  language  as  this  did  John  Ball  harangue 
the  people  of  his  village  every  Sunday  after  mass.  The 
archbishop,  on  being  informed  of  it,  had  him  arrested 
and  imprisoned  for  two  or  three  months  by  way  of  pun- 
ishment; but  the  moment  he  was  out  of  prison,  he  re- 
turned to  his  former  course.  Many  in  the  city  of  London, 
envious  of  the  rich  and  noble,  having  heard  of  John  Ball's 
preaching,  said  among  themselves  that  the  country  was 
badly  governed,  and  that  the  nobility  had  seized  upon 


THE  WORKERS 


261 


all  the  gold  and  silver.  These  wicked  Londoners,  there- 
fore, began  to  assemble  in  parties,  and  to  show  signs  of 
rebellion ;  they  also  invited  all  those  who  held  like  opin- 
ions in  the  adjoining  counties  to  come  to  London ;  telling 
them  that  they  would  find  the  town  open  to  them  and  the 
commonalty  of  the  same  way  of  thinking  as  themselves, 
and  that  they  would  so  press 
the  king,  that  there  should  no 
longer  be  a  slave  in  England. 

"By  this  means  the  men 
of  Kent,  Essex,  Sussex,  Bed- 
ford, and  the  adjoining  coun- 
ties, in  number  about  60,000, 
were  brought  to  London  under 
command  of  Wat  Tyler,  Jack 
Straw,  and  John  Ball." 

That  is  a  wonderful  pic- 
ture, 60,000  poor  men  in  their 
ragged  clothes  tramping  the 
roads  to  London,  shouting  noble  sayings  of  John  Ball : 
"All  men  were  created  equal"  ;  or,  "When  Adam  delved 
and  Eve  span,  who  was  then  the  gentleman?"  Some  of 
these  men  were  farmers,  and  carried  hoe  or  scythe  or 
plowfoot  in  their  hands.  Others  were  blacksmiths  with 
their  hammers,  or  woodcutters  with  their  axes.  A  few 
knights,  whose  hearts  were  touched  by  the  people's  wrongs, 
went  with  them  on  horseback.  These  crowds  set  out  for 
London,  with  their  dream  of  freedom  ahead  of  them. 
But  because  they  were  ignorant,  and  because  their  poverty 
had  made  them  bitter  against  wealth,  they  did  some  wild 
things  on  the  way.  They  opened  prisons,  tore  down  the 
houses  of  rich  men  whom  they  hated,  and  even  killed 
some  who  were  their  enemies.  When  they  came  to  Lon- 
don, the  young  King  Richard  would  not  go  out  to  meet 


John  Ball 


262  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

them  at  first.  So  they  went  through  the  city  streets, 
burning  the  houses  of  lawyers  and  tax  collectors,  and 
king's  officers  who  they  thought  had  wronged  them. 
Moreover,  they  killed  many  men  of  that  sort,  and  cut 
off  their  heads  and  put  them  on  poles  which  they  set  up 
on  London  Bridge. 

But  at  last  the  king  rode  out  to  meet  them  in  a  meadow 
where  they  were  camped,  "  saying  in  a  most  pleasing 
manner,  '  My  good  people,  I  am  your  king  and  your  lord. 
What  is  it  you  want  ?  What  do  you  wish  to  say  to  me  ? ' 
Those  who  heard  him  made  answer,  'We  wish  you  to 
make  us  free  forever.  We  wish  to  be  no  longer  called 
slaves,  nor  held  in  bondage.'  " 

At  first  the  king  thought  to  grant  their  wish  but  at 
last  he  turned  against  them,  "  and  a  proclamation  was 
made  through  all  the  streets,  that  every  person  who  was 
not  an  inhabitant  of  London  and  who  had  not  resided 
there  a  full  year  should  instantly  depart,  for  if  any 
[others]  were  found  in  the  city  on  Sunday  morning  at 
sunrise,  they  would  be  arrested  as  traitors  to  the  king 
and  have  their  heads  cut  off.  .  .  . 

"This  proclamation  no  one  dared  infringe,  but  all  in- 
stantly departed  to  their  houses  quite  discomfited.  John 
Ball  and  Jack  Straw  were  found  hidden  in  an  old  ruin 
where  they  had  gone,  thinking  to  steal  away  when 
things  were  quiet ;  but  this  they  were  prevented  doing, 
for  their  own  men  betrayed  them.  With  this  capture  the 
king  and  his  barons  were  much  pleased,  and  had  their 
heads  cut  off,  as  was  that  of  Tyler,  and  fixed  on  London 
Bridge."  After  that  the  king  resolved  to  visit  the  country 
in  order  to  punish  the  principal  rebels  throughout  Eng- 
land, so  upwards  of  sixteen  hundred  were  beheaded  or 
hanged.     The  Great  Revolt  had  come  to  nothing. 

Yet  we  can  see  that  the  peasants  had  progressed  since 


THE  WORKERS  263 

the  early  days  of  the  manor.  Men  who  can  hold  secret 
meetings,  organize  an  army,  and  plan  a  war,  are  not  the 
ignorant,  downtrodden,  ununited  villains  of  early  times, 
never  setting  foot  outside  of  their  own  manors.  Many 
men,  by  purchase  or  escape,  had  gained  freedom,  and 
peasants  were  beginning  to  think.  This  great  attempt 
failed,  and  so  did  others  like  it  in  France  and  Germany. 
But  every  where  the  slower,  quieter  ways  of  gaining  freedom 
went  on.  Free  men  working  for  Wages  began  more  and 
more  to  take  the  place  of  land-bound  villains,  and  the 
towns  grew  populous  with  free  workmen. 

Townsmen 

We  have  seen  }  how  villages  grew  up  near  the  castles, 
and  how  large  villages  or  towns  grew  up  in  places  favorable 
to  trade.  Almost  all  the  people  who  lived 
in  these  towns  were  tradesmen  or  apprentices  ^^^g^- 
who  hoped  to  become  tradesmen.  Living 
elbow  to  elbow  inside  the  city  wall,  all  earning  their 
bread  by  selling  goods,  these  men  felt  closely  knit  together. 
"Let  us  join  into  a  society  to  help  one  another,"  they  said. 
"We  can  thus  protect  ourselves  from  dishonest  trades- 
men in  our  own  town  and  from  foreign  traders  who  come 
to  our  gate."  So  they  organized  what  they  called  a 
" gild  merchant,"  or  merchants'  society. 

The  law  of  the  gild  of  Southampton  reads:  "In  the 
first  place,  there  shall  be  elected  from  the  gild  merchant 
...  an  alderman,  a  steward,  a  chaplain,  four  skevins,  and 
an  usher."  These  men  were  "to  execute  the  king's  com- 
mands .  .  .  and  to  keep  the  peace  and  protect  the  fran- 
chise and  to  do  and  keep  justice  to  all  persons  as  well 
poor  as  rich,  natives  or  strangers.  .  .  .  The  common 
chest  shall  be  in  the  house  of  the  chief  alderman  or  of 

1  See  pages  163,  202-204. 


264 


THE  NEWER  NATIONS 


vh 


* 


the  steward,  and  the  three  keys  of  it  shall  be  lodged 
with  three  discreet  men  .  .  .  who  shall  loyally  take  care 
of  the  common  seal,  and  the  charters  and  the  treasure  of 
the  town,  and  the  standards ;  .  .  .  and 
nobody  shall  sell  by  any  kind  of  meas- 
ure or  weight  that  is  not  sealed  [that 
is,  inspected  and  passed  by  the  officers 
of  the  gild].  .  .  r"  "  And  no  one  of 
the  city  of  Southampton  shall  buy 
anything  to  sell  again  in  the  same  city, 
unless  he  is  of  the  gild  merchant." 

Such  a  gild  often  grew  rich  from 
the  dues  and  gifts  of  its  members 
and  could  accomplish  much  in  the 
fight  of  the  people  against  the  lords. 
It  could  buy  liberties  from  the  lord 
of  the  town  and  under  the  charter 
could  establish  self-government,  with 
the  gild  officers  acting  as  the  officers 
of  the  town  and  the  gildsmen  at  their 
meetings  making  laws  for  the  town 
and  voting  money  to  pave  streets  and 
build  bridges.  Under  its  rule  busi- 
ness prospered,  the  town  grew  larger, 
and  many  men  became  wealthy. 

The  whole  plan  of  working  in  these 
towns  of  the  Middle  Ages  was  different 
from  our  plan.  There  were 
°ps  no  great  factories  where 
hundreds  of  men  worked  at  machines. 
The  making  and  selling  were  done  in 
a  man's  own  home.  Imagine,  then, 
a  harness  maker's  place.  On  the  first 
floor  in  the  front,  coming  close  to  the 


0 


m 


So 


Nj 


Medieval  Shops 


On  the  first  floor  of  the 
houset 


THE  WORKERS  265 

street,  was  a  little  room  where  hung  bridles  and  harness 
for  sale.  Back  of  that  was  a  larger  room,  where  work 
went  on.  Here  two  or  three  boys  were  cutting  the  leather 
or  sewing  up  the  harness.  Perhaps  the  master's  wife 
and  daughter,  too,  were  at  work  here.  The  master  went 
about  among  his  boys,  telling  how  the  work  was  to  be 
done,  correcting  mistakes,  giving  out  material,  doing  the 
hardest  tasks  himself,  and  going  out  to  the  little  shop  in 
front  when  a  customer  entered. 

These  boys  were  his  apprentices.     Wishing  to  learn 
the  trade  of  harness  making,   they  had  come  here  to 
practice.     They  had  really  become  members  of 
the  master's  family  and  had  promised  to  stay  ti^en~ 
for  seven  years,  to  labor  at  the  master's  work 
from  morning  light  to  evening  dusk,  and  to  obey  the 
master  as  a  father.     On  his  side  the  master  had  promised 
to  give  his  apprentices  food  and  bed,  to  pay  them  a  small 
sum  per  week,  to  teach  them  his  trade,  to  watch  their 
morals  and  their  religion,  to  be  a  father  to  them.     In  the 
two  or  three  rooms  on  the  second  floor  of  the  house  these 
young  apprentices  lived  with  the  master's  family,  and  per- 
haps slept  in  the  attic  under  the  steep  roof. 

So  a  workman's  house  was  his  home  and  factory  and 
store,  all  in  one.  A  customer,  entering  the  front  door  of 
the  little  shop  to  buy,  might  step  back  into  the  work- 
room to  see  his  leather  cut ;  and  might,  if  he  was  a  friend, 
be  invited  to  go  upstairs  to  the  living  room  for  a  mug  of 
ale,  after  the  sale  was  made. 

One  little  family  shop  like  this  could  not  make  much 
harness,  and  so  a  large  town  would  have  per- 
haps twenty  such  places.       All  these  harness  Craft  pilds 
makers  came  to  feel  that  they  could  carry  on  £°ws  * 
their  business  better  if  they  met   and  made 
plans  together.     The  gild  merchant  did  not  satisfy  them. 


266 


THE  NEWER  NATIONS 


There  were  men  of  all  trades  in  it.  It  was  more  interested 
in  the  governing  of  the  town  and  in  the  management  of 
markets  than  in  the  special  problems  of  the  harness  makers. 
So  these  workers  formed  a  new  gild  just  for  themselves. 
Soon  every  craft  followed  the  example.  There  were 
gilds   for   bakers,    tailors,    goldsmiths,    spurriers,    arrow 


ity^j^u^iw^y^ 


A  Goldsmith's  Shop 

Jewelry  and  silver  dishes  are  on  the  table  and  hanging  from  the  rod.  Piles  of 
money  lie  on  the  table.  A  gentleman  is  bargaining  with  the  goldsmith.  A 
servant  is  carrying  the  purchases  already  made.     A  clerk  is  writing  down  the 

sales  in  a  book 

makers,  and  all  the  rest.  Each  gild  chose  officers,  built 
a  hall  for  its  meetings,  levied  dues  to  pay  expenses, 
perhaps  decided  upon  a  uniform  for  all  its  members, 
made  rules  about  hours  of  work,  prices,  treatment  of 
apprentices,  and  many  other  such  matters.  Best  of  all, 
the  gilds  used  their  influence  to  get  honest  work  in 
their  craft  and  decent  behavior  among  their  members. 

For  example  a  certain  William  Peeke,  an  English  tailor, 
abused  his  servant  —  bruised  his  arm  and  broke  his  head. 
The  servant  complained  to  the  gild,  and  the  gild  made 
the  master  pay  the  servant's  doctor's  bill  and  his  board 
for  the  months  while  he  was  recovering,  and  compelled 


THE  WORKERS  267 

him  to  give  the  servant  a  good  sum  of  money  besides. 
Moreover,  they  fined  the  master  as  a  member  of  the  gild 
"for  his  misbehaving  against  the  craft." 

The  gild  of  the  makers  of  spurs  had  a  rule  against 
cheating  that  read  thus :  "No  one  shall  cause  to  be  sold 
or  exposed  for  sale,  any  manner  of  old  spurs  for  new  ones, 
or  shall  garnish  them  or  change  them  for  new  ones." 
This  same  gild  had  another  rule  "that  no  one  of  the  trade 
of  spurriers  shall  work  longer  than  from  the  beginning  of 
the  day  till  curfew  .  .  .  ,  by  reason  that  no  man  can  work 
so  neatly  by  night  as  by  day.  .  .  .  And  further  many  of 
the  said  trade  are  wandering  about  all  day,  without  work- 
ing at  all  at  their  trade,  and  then  when  they  have  become 
drunk  and  frantic,  they  take  to  their  work  to  the  annoy- 
ance of  the  sick  and  all  their  neighborhood,  by  reason  of 
the  broils  that  arise  between  them  and  the  strange  folks 
who  are  dwelling  among  them.  And  then  they  blow  up 
their  fires  so  vigorously  that  their  forges  begin  all  at  once 
to  blaze,  to  the  great  peril  of  themselves  and  all  the 
neighborhood  around.  ...  By  reason  thereof,  it  seems 
unto  them  [that  is,  the  officers  of  the  gild],  that  working 
by  night  should  be  put  an  end  to,  in  order  such  false  work 
and  such  perils  to  avoid.  And  therefore  the  mayor  and 
the  aldermen  [of  the  gild]  do  will,  by  the  assent  of  the  good 
folks  of  the  said,  trade,  and  for  the  common  profit  that 
from  henceforth  such  time  for  working  and  such  false 
work  made  in  the  trade  shall  be  forbidden."  The  men 
who  made  that  rule  were  working  not  only  for  honesty 
in  their  trade  but  for  order  and  decency  in  their 
town. 

Moreover,  the  gilds  compelled  their  members  to  give 
vacations  to  their  apprentices  and  to  take  the  same 
vacations  themselves  —  all  Sundays  and  saints'  days  and 
Saturday  afternoons,  and  more  than  a  month  at  Christmas. 


268  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

Nor  was  one  member  of  the  gild  allowed  to  try  to  get  a 
brother  member's  business  away  from  him  by  selling  at 
a  lower  price  or  by  buying  up  all  the  material  that  was 
for  sale  or  by  inviting  his  brother's  customers  to  his  shop 
or  by  taking  his  workmen  from  him.  Indeed,  a  certain 
gild  had  this  law :  "  And  if  any  one  of  the  said  trade  shall 
have  work  in  his  house  that  he  cannot  complete ;  or  if, 
for  want  of  help,  such  work  shall  be  in  danger  of  being 
lost,  those  of  the  said  trade  shall  aid  him,  that  so  the 
said  work  be  not  lost."  This,  surely,  was  a  proof  of 
brotherhood. 

So  was  another  law  of  this  same  gild.  "If  by  chance 
any  one  of  the  said  trade  shall  fall  into  poverty,  whether 
through  old  age  or  because  he  cannot  labor  or  work,  and 
have  nothing  with  which  to  keep  himself,  he  shall  have 
every  week  from  the  [gild]  box,  seven  pence  for  his  support, 
if  he  be  a  man  of  good  repute.  And  after  his  decease,  if 
he  have  a  wife,  a  woman  of  good  repute,  she  shall  have 
weekly  for  her  support  seven  pence  from  the  said  box, 
so  long  as  she  shall  behave  herself  well  and  keep  single." 
Almost  every  gild,  in  fact,  cared  lovingly  for  its  sick 
members  and  respectfully  buried  the  dead. 

But  the  chief  advantages  of  belonging  to  a  gild  were 
business  ones.  Each  gild  usually  made  it  unlawful  for 
any  man  not  a  gild  member  to  make  or  sell  any  goods 
inside  the  town.  A  blacksmith  from  another  village,  for 
instance,  might  not  bring  his  goods  into  a  town  and  offer 
them  for  sale.  Neither  might  a  baker,  or  a  tailor,  or  any 
other  tradesman  come  in  from  outside  and  open  a  shop. 
The  business  of  the  town  was  saved  for  its  own  people 
and  its  own  gild  members.  Therefore  it  paid  a  spurrier 
to  join  the  spurriers'  gild,  a  brewer  the  brewers'  gild. 

So  through  all  western  Europe  there  grew  up  free 
cities,  rich  and  beautiful,  with  their  busy  gilds.     None  of 


THE  WORKERS 


269 


these  was  richer,  or  more  beautiful,  than  was  Florence 

in  northern  Italy.     She  was  walled,  of  course, 

like  cities  of  the  time,  for  she  had  many  jeal-  F1°rence> 

ous  enemies.     Her  men  were  trained  to  arms;  City 

for  she  had  conquered  cities  roundabout  and 

needed   to   hold   them   to   obedience.     When   the   great 


■  ■     jfrl 


An  Old  View  of  Florence 

Notice  the  wall  all  around  it.     The  large  dome  is  that  of  the  cathedral.     The 
low,  eight-sided  building  at  its  right  is  the  Baptistry.     The  bell  tower  is  be- 
tween them.     To  the  left  of  the  cathedral  stands  the  tower  of  the  town  hall 


bell  rang  from  the  tower  of  the  town  hall,  the  people  ran 
to  the  square  ready  for  war. 

Florence  was  full  of  rich  cloth  merchants.  They  brought 
brilliant  dyes  and  raw  silk  from  the  East.  They 
planted  mulberry  trees  and  learned  to  raise  silkworms. 
They  were  always  experimenting  with  dyes  in  order  to 


270 


THE  NEWER  NATIONS 


find  rich,  lasting  colors.  They  wove  brocaded  silks  and 
cloth  of  gold  that  were  as  beautiful  and  as  precious  as 
those  which  came  from  far  China.  They  made  woolen 
cloth  that  was  more  beautiful  than  any  other  city  could 
make.  They  even  took  the  cloth  of  Flanders,  the  great 
weaving  country,  colored  it  with  their  wonderful  dyes, 
trimmed  it,  finished  it,  pressed  it,  and  sent  it  back  twice 
as  valuable  as  when  it  came. 

The  Florentine  markets  were  among  the  busiest  of  the 

world.     They  were  open  squares  like  the  market-places 

of  Athens  and  Rome.     Every  day  they  were 

crowded   with  tables   and   benches   and  little 

stalls   under   awnings.     Here   were   all   common   things 


H 


A  Corner  of  a  Market  in  Florence 

We  see  scales  like  the  fish  merchant's  to-day.     The  woman  who  is  standing  has 

a  string  of  dried  figs  over  her  arm.     The  woman  at  the  left  is  spinning  with 

hand  spindle  and  distaff  while  she  waits  for  customers 


from  the  farms  for  sale,  —  flowers,  fruit,  vegetables,  milk, 
wine,   bread,   cheese.     There  were  barbers'   shops,   too, 


THE  WORKERS  271 

and  doctors'  stalls.  There  was  a  special  market  for  fish 
and  meats  and  cattle.  Still  another  was  for  richer 
merchants,  —  goldsmiths,  bankers  and  money  lenders, 
makers  of  gorgeous  silks  and  embroidered  cloths. 

But  not  all  the  goods  of  Florentines  were  on  sale  in 
these  markets.  On  every  street,  tucked  into  the  corners 
of  fine  palaces  and  the  lower  stories  of  poor  houses,'  were 
shops  of  a  hundred  sorts,  —  shops  of  silk  weavers,  wool 
weavers,  dyers,  armorers,  pot  makers,  blacksmiths,  jew- 
elers, bow-and-arrow  makers,  tanners,  saddle  makers, 
shoemakers,  carpenters,  bakers,  ropemakers,  glass  blowers. 
And  in  these  shops  and  in  the  markets  and  the  gild- 
halls  were  the  proudest,  the  richest,  the  best  dressed,  and 
the  most  honored  gentlemen  of  the  city.  For  after  the 
gilds  had  become  strong,  and  the  traders  had  grown  rich, 
and  the  nobles  had  been  put  down,  no  man  in  Florence 
was  ashamed  to  be  a  craftsman  or  a  merchant.  Indeed, 
many  noblemen  entered  trade  and  became  members  of 
gilds. 

The  people  of  Florence  were  educated  and  brilliant, 
and  they  loved  learning.  "  Tailors  left  their  benches,  to 
attend  the  Greek  lecture.  Blacksmiths  laid  aside  their 
hammers  for  the  pen  of  history,  wool  carders  found  time 
to  study  law,  barbers  sought  the  chair  of  poetry,"  and  even 
the  donkey  boys  loved  good  verses.  In  fact,  the  people 
were  lovers  of  all  kinds  of  beauty,  like  the  Athenians  of 
olden  time. 

They  devotedly  loved  their  city,  too,  as  the  Athenians 
had  loved  theirs,  and  they  made  of  Florence  a  newer 
Athens.     She   was   one   of   the   great   money- 
centers  of  Europe,  and  she  was  also  a  center  ^m 
of  art  and  learning.     No  other  city  ever  had 
so  many  great  painters  and  sculptors  and  builders  and 
writers  at  one  time.     About  the  year  1490  on  almost  any 


272 


THE  NEWER  NATIONS 


day  a  visitor  to  Florence  might  have  counted  on  her 
streets  five  or  six  artists  who  were  famous  the  world  over. 


A  Street  Corner  in  Florence 

A  saint  is  preaching.     Notice  how  narrow  the  street  is,  and  the  almost  blank 
walls  of  the  houses  coming  close  to  it.     An  old  Italian  painting 


The  skilled  hands  of  these  artists  and  the  money  of  these 
merchants  made  Florence  one  of  the  most  beautiful  spots 
in  the  world.     They  covered   the  inside  walls   of  her 


THE  WORKERS  273 

churches  and  her  palaces  with  paintings.  They  decked 
her  altars  and  porticoes  and  fountains  with  statues. 
They  constructed  buildings  with  dignified  fronts  as 
beautiful  as  a  picture.  Every  street  in  Florence  to-day 
is  material  for  an  artist's  pencil. 

Suppose,  for  example,  that  you  were  standing  in  the 
Cathedral  Square.  Out  near  the  center  of  it  is  the 
Baptistry,  the  little  church  where  every  child 
born  in  Florence  during  the  last  800  years  has  B  ® 
been  baptized.  One  pair  of  its  bronze  doors 
a  sculptor  spent  forty  years  in  making.  They  are  like 
a  page  from  some  great,  marvelous  picture  book.  There 
is  a  margin  of  sculptured  flowers  and  fruit  and  tiny 
statues  of  saints,  all  cast  in  bronze.  Within  this  margin 
are  ten  bronze  reliefs  of  Bible  stories.  Every  little  figure 
is  perfectly  modeled.  Some  of  them  are  drawn  in  the 
background  in  relief.  Others  stand  out  in  front  as  little 
statues.  Michael  Angelo,  a  Florentine,  and  one  of  the 
world's  greatest  artists,  once  stood  gazing  at  these  doors 
in  joy,  and  he  said,  "They  are  so  beautiful  that  they 
might  fittingly  stand  at  the  gates  of  Paradise." 

But  the  Baptistry,  with  its  wonderful  gates,  is  only  one 

beauty  of  this  square.     At  the  side  of  it  towers  a  great 

cathedral  with   one   of   the   largest   domes   of 

the  world  —  the  first   dome  built  in  western       ®    e 

Tower 

Europe  after  the  days  of  the  Romans,  and 
its  maker  was  a  Florentine.  Near  the  corner  of  this 
church  there  rises  the  bell  tower,  that  has  called  the 
Florentines  to  prayer  for  six  hundred  years.  It  stands 
high  and  slender,  every  inch  of  it  delicately  carved,  cut 
through  with  long,  graceful  windows,  seeming  so  light 
that  a  wind  might  stir  it.  Nor  is  it  all  of  cold,  white 
marble.  There  are  lines  of  rose  color  and  dark  green, 
and  the  whole  body  of  white  has  grown  into  a  rich  cream. 


The  Bronze  Doors  of  the  Baptistry 


[274] 


THE  WORKERS 


275 


A  great  Englishman  who  loved  it  has  said  that  it  is 
"  colored  like  a  morning  cloud,  and  chased  like  a  sea 
shell."  The  Florentines,  themselves,  call 
it  "angel-builded." 

One  other  building  may  give  a  hint  of 
the  beauties  of  Florence.     It  is  on  a  street 
where  in  old  days  were  the  gild  The 
halls  and  the  shops  of  artists.  c^mch 
It  is  a  little  square  church  three  Gild 
stories  high,  with  enough  beauty  Emblems 
on  its  four  outer  walls  to  feed  the  hearts 
of  a  city.     One  window  alone  would  make 
a  whole  building  rich,  it  is  so  lovely  with 
columns  and  interlaced  curves  and  gar- 
lands all  carved  in  stone.     Between  the 
windows  are  statues  of  Christian  saints, 
standing  in  marble  niches,  looking  down 
upon  the  passers-by  and  reminding  them 
to  live  holy  lives  and  to  love  goodness 
and  beauty. 

Above  every  statue,  set  into  the  dark 
stone  wall,  is  a  round  tile  of  terra  cotta 
with  soft  blues  and  greens  and  cream, 
under  a  shining  glaze.  Framing  every 
plaque  is  a  modeled  and  painted  garland 
of  fruit  and  flowers.  In  one  circle  is  the 
Madonna  with  the  Child,  and  the  lilies 
waving  beside  her.  That  is  the  sign  that 
the  gild  of  apothecaries  and  physicians 
carried  upon  its  banners.  On  another 
plaque  are  a  white  lamb  and  a  flying  flag,  and  iris 
blossoms.  That  is  the  mark  of  the  gild  of  wool  weavers. 
In  another  circle  an  eagle  spreads  his  wings  and  clutches 
a  bale  of  cloth  in  his  talons.     It  is  the  sign  of  the  cloth 


The  Bell  Tower 


276 


THE  NEWER  NATIONS 


merchants.  And  so  over  every  niche  is  the  coat  of 
arms  of  one  of  the  great  gilds  of  Florence.  For  it  was 
they  who  helped  to  build  this  church  and  who  gave  these 
statues  in  token  of  their  worship  of  God  and  their  love 
of  Florence.     Indeed,  just  across  the  narrow  lane  from 


The  Arms  of  the  Apothecaries  and  Physicians 


the  church  is  the  gild  house  of  the  wool  weavers,  where 
they  held  their  meetings  and  where  their  officers  lived. 

This  little  church  of  Or  San  Michele,  the  "gates  of 
Paradise,"  the  bell  tower,  and  the  great  cathedral,  are 
only  four  out  of  hundreds  of  beautiful  things  that  make  old 


THE   WORKERS  277 

Florence  lovely.  There  are  churches,  their  walls  bright 
with  marvelous  pictures  of  Christ  and  angels  and  saints. 
There  are  palaces  with  beautiful  fountains  and  staircases 
in  their  courtyards.  Around  the  sides  of  open  squares 
are  porticoes,  their  columns  gracefully  shaped,  and  bright 
plaques  of  terra  cotta  set  into  their  walls.  There  are 
statues  in  churches  and  piazzas.  A  lifetime  is  not  too  long 
for  becoming  acquainted  with  the  beauties  of  Florence. 

And  this  was  not  the  only  city  of  Europe  where  all  the 
people  loved  beauty,  where  men  were  eager  to  give  money 
to  make  their  city  lovely,  where  artists  were  willing  to 
spend  many  years  upon  a  single  statue  or  altar  or  crucifix. 
All  Europe  is  still  full  of  churches,  palaces,  pictures, 
statues,  that  were  made  in  this  blossoming  time  of  art. 
And  this  age  of  beauty,  remember,  is  also  the  age  of  the 
gilds.  Many  of  the  loveliest  cities  were  the  ones  where 
the  gilds  were  strongest,  the  free  cities  who  gloried  in 
their  independence. 

Traders 

The  way  in  which  trading  was  carried  on  in  those  days 
differed  from  our  way.  For  one  thing  it  was  much  more 
difficult  to  send  goods  from  place  to  place. 
There  were  no  railroads,  there  were  not  even 
stage-coaches.  Moreover,  the  roads  were  poor  and  unfit 
for  wheeled  wagons.  There  were  no  continuous  streams 
of  goods  flowing  to  and  fro  across  the  country,  as  there 
are  now.  In  seaport  towns  people  could  buy  many  kinds 
of  strange  things  from  far-off  shores,  brought  by  ships. 
But  in  inland  places  people  had  to  be  content  with  little. 

Now  and  then  peddlers  visited  them,  bringing  foreign 
goods  in  packs  on  their  own  backs  or  on  horses.  _  -,  „ 

Peddlers 

They  were  welcomed    at   castles   and    spread 

out  their  stock  in  the  courtyard  for  servant  lasses  and 


278  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

lads  and  the  rough  soldiers  to  buy.  Sometimes  they 
were  invited  into  the  ladies'  bower  to  show  their  goods 
to  gentler  eyes.  They  went  through  the  street  of  a 
peasant  village,  calling  out  their  wares  in  some  such  song 
as  this : 

Will  you  buy  any  tape, 

Or  lace  for  your  cape, 

My  dainty  duck,  my  dear-a? 

Any  silk,  any  thread, 

Any  toys  for  your  head, 

Of  the  newest  and  finest,  finest  wear-a  ? 

But  by  the  time  a  piece  of  leather  from  Spain  had 
traveled  in  a  ship  for  three  or  four  months,  lain  in  a 
merchants'  storehouse  in  a  German  seaport,  and  been 
packed  along  dangerous  country  roads  to  a  village  a 
hundred  miles  inland,  it  was  too  expensive  for  a  poor 
cobbler  or  harness  maker  to  buy.  So  most  men  had  to 
use  only  the  things  produced  around  their  own  town, 
except  for  the  salt  and  the  pepper  and  the  spices,  which 
could  be  found  only  in  far  countries,  and  they  were  much 
more  expensive  than  they  are  to-day. 

These  peddlers  were  only  merchants  on  a  small  scale. 
Greater  traders  also  had  to  carry  goods  sometimes  from 
town  to  town.  They,  too,  had  to  pack  them  on  horses, 
and  themselves  rode  with  the  pack  train.  For  the  sake 
of  safety  they  always  went  in  large  companies  and  even 
hired  strong,  warlike  fellows  to  go  with  them  to  protect 
the  train  against  robbers.  This  land  travel  was  a  slow 
way,  a  costly  way,  and  a  dangerous  way. 

It  was  better,  whenever  it  was  possible,  to  go  by  flat- 
boats  on  rivers.  There  was  no  expense  of  buying  and 
feeding  horses,  and  it  was  possible  sometimes  to  escape 
from  enemies  by  keeping  to  the  middle  of  the  river.  Yet 
there  was  danger  from  river  pirates,  from  robber  barons 


THE  WORKERS 


279 


Landing  at  a  Seaport 
As  they  land,  strangers  must  pay  toll  to  the  coast  guard.     Notice  the  docks 

whose  castles  lay  on  the  banks,  and  from  accidents  of 
upsetting.  There  were,  too,  river  tolls  to  pay  at  every 
ford  and  every  bridge.  Little  wonder  that  prices  were 
high! 

The  best  way  of  all  to  travel  was  on  the  sea.     Of 
course,  there  were  storms,  but  boats  had  improved  since 


28o 


THE  NEWER  NATIONS 


Viking  days.1  The  ship  of  earlier  times  had  been  a 
great  rowboat  with  a  temporary  sail.  The  vessel  that 
medieval  merchants  used  was  a  ship  with  one, 
two,  or  even  three  high  masts.  It  needed  a 
crew  of  thirty  or  forty  men  to  work  it.  It  had  a  real 
rudder,  while  the  Vikings  and  Greeks  had  used  an  oar  for 


Ships 


Merchant  Ships  Carrying  Soldiers 

Notice  the  crow's  nest  on  the  mast.     The  ship  nearer  us  is  a  galley.     The 

rowers  sit  in  galleries  built  on  outside  the  vessel.     The  artist  has  drawn  the 

men  too  large  for  the  ships 

steering.  The  ship  was  perhaps  a  hundred  feet  long  and 
would  carry  hundreds  of  men,  if  need  was.  At  bow  and 
stern  were  decked  spaces  for  shelter  from  storm  and  cold. 
All  the  central  part  was  undecked  —  a  great  open  place  for 
storing  goods,  and  it  would  hold  perhaps  three  hundred 
tons.     This  heavy  boat  could  not  be  drawn  up  on  shore,  as 

1  See  page  157. 


THE  WORKERS  281 

the  Vikings  and  Greeks  had  done  with  theirs.     She  an- 
chored in  a  bay  and  sent  out  rowboats,  as  our  ships  do  now. 

But,  even  as  in  Viking  days,  a  vessel  had  to  be  both 
merchant  ship  and  warship,  all  in  one.  So  in  the  for- 
ward and  after  ends  were  platforms  with  bulwarks  about 
them  where  men  stood  to  fight.  People  called  these 
walled  platforms  castles,  and  fighting  from  them  was 
much  like  fighting  from  the  wall  of  a  stone  castle  on  land. 
Men  used  the  same  weapons  —  bows  and  arrows  and 
hurling  engines.  Near  the  top  of  the  tall  mast,  also,  was 
a  crow's  nest,  or  fighting-top,  where  a  guard  was  always 
stationed  to  watch  for  rocks  or  shoals  or,  worse  still,  for 
pirates ;  and  there,  in  time  of  battle,  men  stood  to  fight. 

Just  as  the  men  of  a  town  combined  into  gilds  for  the 
sake  of  protecting  their  liberty  against  their  lords,  so 
cities    often    banded    together    for    the    same 
reason,    with   the    added   purpose    of   helping  Leaj^e 
trade  and  protecting  their  traders  against  pi- 
rates.    One  of  the  strongest  of  these  associations  was  the 
"Hanseatic  League."     Germany  was  a  distracted  country 
after  the  days  of  Frederick  II.1     There  was  no  emperor, 
or  rather  there  were  two  or  three  at  a  time,  all  fighting 
for  possession   and   caring  nothing  for  the  safety  and 
prosperity  of  their  people.     There  were  pirates  on  the 
sea  and  robbers  on  the  country  roads  and  no  warships  or 
armies  to  hold  them  in  check. 

Many  of  the  German  cities  were  filled  with  craftsmen  and 
merchants  and  gilds,  just  as  Florence  was.  They  wished 
to  trade  with  the  ruder  nations  around  the  Baltic  Sea,  — 
Russians  and  Poles  and  the  Viking  races  of  Denmark  and 
Sweden  and  Norway.  These  peoples  were  only  beginning 
to  make  things  for  themselves.  They  were,  consequently, 
eager  to  buy,  and  it  was  profitable  to  trade  with  them. 

1  See  page  173. 


Cities  with  names  underlined  are  important  Hanseatic  towns 
[282I 


25*  30°  35°  40°  45*  50 


Those  heavily  underlined  are  foreign  Hanseatic  factories 
[283] 


284  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

Therefore,  since  the  government  could  not  protect 
them,  the  trading  cities  of  Germany  and  the  neighboring 
countries  banded  together  into  the  Hanseatic  League. 
At  one  time  more  than  eighty  towns  belonged  to  it. 
Men  were  elected  from  the  gilds  of  each  place  to  go  to  a 
congress  in  one  of  the  cities.  Here  they  decided  what 
share  of  money  each  town  was  to  contribute  to  the  League, 
they  elected  officers,  ordered  ships  to  be  built,  hired 
horsemen  to  police  the  roads  between  their  cities,  made 
laws  to  govern  their  merchants  in  foreign  lands.  Then- 
ships  sailed  to  and  fro  across  the  Baltic,  carrying  to  the 
towns  of  Sweden  and  Norway  and  Denmark  and  Russia 
the  cloth  and  jewelry  and  leather  goods  made  by  German 
craftsmen,  and  bringing  back  the  furs,  pitch,  lumber, 
amber,  tallow,  fish,  iron,  copper,  tar,  and  salt  of  the 
North. 

Sometimes  a  trading  expedition  was  turned  into  a  war 
against  pirates.  Sometimes,  too,  the  ships  of  the  League 
were  not  welcome  in  a  foreign  city.  Often  the  native 
merchants  were  jealous  of  the  newcomers  and  rose  up  and 
drove  them  out  and  even  burned  the  storehouses  where 
their  goods  were.  In  cases  like  this,  the  men  of  the 
League  often  made  war  upon  the  unfriendly  city.  In 
towns  where  the  native  merchants  had  already  formed 
gilds,  these  gilds  sometimes  made  it  very  unpleasant  and 
difficult  for  the  visitors.  The  foreigners  were  taxed  for 
whatever  they  bought  or  sold,  and  certain  things  they 
were  not  allowed  to  sell  at  all.  They  might  not  remain 
longer  than  the  town  gild  was  willing  to  have  them. 
They  were  forced  to  live  with  some  gildsmen  of  the  town 
who  could  keep  an  eye  on  them. 

But  gradually  the  League  begged  a  privilege  here  and 
bought  one  there  and  fought  for  one  in  another  place. 
And  as  they  grew  stronger,  their  ships  more  numerous, 


THE  WORKERS  285 

their  cashbox  fuller,  no  people  dared  insult  them,  for 
they  answered  with  war.  They  even  declared  war 
against  kings  and  won.  So  in  some  cities  they  were 
given  land  and  were  allowed  to  build  storehouses  for 
their  goods,  dwellings  for  their  merchants,  a  hall  for  their 
meetings,  a  dock  for  their  ships. 

The  greatest  of  these  factories,  as  they  were  called, 
were  at  Novgorod  in  Russia,  Bergen  in  Sweden,  London 
in  England,  and  Bruges  in  Flanders.  At  these  factories 
officers  and  merchants  of  the  League  lived  all  the  year 
round,  dwelling  together  like  brothers,  eating  at  the 
same  table,  all  going  to  bed  at  a  given  signal,  doing 
business  and  playing  games  together.  These  Hanse 
men  were  the  real  lords  of  some  of  the  foreign  towns 
where  they  had  posts.  In  Bergen,  for  instance,  there 
were  three  thousand  of  them,  and  they  owned  the 
city,  allowing  the  natives  to  live  only  where  the  Hanse 
willed,  and  not  permitting  them  to  own  ships  or  to  go 
to  sea. 

The  cities  that  they  honored  grew  great  and  rich  from 
the  business  that  the  League  brought.  Moreover,  the 
goods  and  the  manners  and  the  knowledge  of  cultured 
Europe  went  in  the  Hanseatic  ships  to  the  less  cultured 
lands  of  the  North.  These  Hanse  traders  did  for  Scan- 
dinavia and  Russia  what  the  old  Greek  traders  had  done 
for  Italy  and  France. 

European  traders  covered  not  only  all  of  Europe,  but 
the  African  and  Asiatic  shores  of  the  Mediterranean, 
besides.  The  Hanseatic  towns  took  care  of  most  of  the 
northern  trading.  From  Russia  and  Scandinavia  they 
brought  down  largely  useful  things,  and  most  people,  of 
course,  had  to  be  satisfied  with  these.  But  the  wealthy 
people  —  nobles  and  bishops  and  the  monks  in  rich 
monasteries  —  hungered  also  for  beautiful  things. 


286 


THE  NEWER  NATIONS 


Now,  the  place  where  people  were  most  trained  in 
making  things  of  beauty  was  the  East.  There  was 
western  Asia,  that  Alexander  long  ago  had  con- 
quered.1 Here  he  had  found  Persians  dressed  in 
gorgeous  red  and  purple  and  golden  embroidery  and  bath- 
ing their  hands  in  golden  bowls.  Here  he  had  found  the 
king's  army  tent  sweet  with  perfumes  and  burning 
incense.  During  the  hundreds  of  years  since  Alexander 
the  country  had  kept  all  its  gorgeousness. 

There  was  Arabia,  too,  with  its  rose  gardens  and  silk 
tapestries  and  delicate  wines  and  heavy  perfumes  and  rare 

& 


Traders  Landing  at  an  Eastern  Town 


fruits,  —  oranges,  peaches,  pears,  pomegranates.  Behind 
that  was  India,  a  land  of  gold  and  silk  and  carved  ivory,  of 
great  temples,  rich  with  statues  of  marble  and  bronze.  For 
India  even  then  was  the  home  of  an  old  race,  who  had 
been  writing  books  and  building  palaces  when  even  the 
Greeks  had  been  a  half-civilized  people.  And  there  were 
the  islands  of  the  sea  beyond  India,  where  grew  rare  spices 
for  preserving  food,  —  cloves,  pepper,  cinnamon,  allspice, 

1  See  page  63. 


THE  WORKERS  287 

nutmegs,  —  and  choice  woods  for  making  beautiful  crosses 
and  altars  and  tables.  Sweet-smelling  things  they  had,  also, 
to  make  perfumes  for  the  toilet  of  elegant  nobles  and  ladies, 
and  incense  to  burn  before  holy  altars  in  churches.  And  yet 
farther  away,  in  the  dim  East,  was  China,  from  which  came 
embroidered  silk  and  costly  carvings  and  precious  gems. 

Everything,  indeed,  that  was  gorgeous  and  rare  and 
costly  came  to  Europe  from  Asia,  and  she  seemed  to  the 
men  of  medieval  France  and  Italy  and  Spain  and  Ger- 
many and  England  like  a  real  fairyland,  filled  with  beauty 
and  richness  and  magic.  One  of  these  Eastern  lands  is 
thus  described  by  a  medieval  author,  in  a  letter  which 
its  king  himself  is  supposed  to  write.  The  description  is 
not  true,  doubtless,  but  it  shows  what  Europeans  of  the 
time  thought  of  the  East. 

"Over  the  gables  of  our  palace,"  the  king  is  supposed 
to  say,  "  are  two  golden  apples,  in  each  of  which  are  two 
carbuncles,  so  that  the  gold  may  shine  by  day  and 
the  carbuncles  by  night.  .  .  .  The  [doors]  are  of  ebony, 
the  windows  are  of  crystal.  The  tables  are  partly  of  gold, 
partly  of  amethyst,  and  the  columns  supporting  the  tables 
are  partly  of  ivory,  partly  of  amethyst." 

How  to  get  the  riches  of  this  wonderful  world  of  the 
East  into  the  West  was  the  great  problem  of  medieval 
merchants.      Between    these    Eastern    peoples 
who  wanted  to  sell  and  the  Western  peoples  who  Tfade 
wanted  to  buy  were  thousands  of  miles  of  land,  East 
with  steep  mountains,  cold,  barren  plains,  and 
dry,    hot    deserts;     with    unknown    tribes    that    hated 
strangers.     From  Germany  to  China,  or  even  from  Italy 
to  India,  was  too  long  a  way  and  too  strange  a  way  for 
merchants  to  go.     But  the  East  was  as  eager  to  sell  and 
buy  as  the  West  was.     So  each  people  brought  their 
goods  half  the  way. 


288  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

There  were  different  routes  of  travel  from  the  East. 
One  of  them  ended  at  Novgorod  in  northern  Russia. 

Chinese  merchants  who  lived  near  the  Hoang-Ho 
Route6™      Riyer  Put  their  bundles  into  slow  river  boats  and 

rowed  them  or  perhaps  sailed  them  upstream 
as  far  as  they  could  go.  There  they  sold  them,  perhaps, 
to  other  merchants,  who  packed  them  upon  horses  and 
carried  them  by  land  for  hundreds  of  miles  to  the  Irtish 
River.  Here  perhaps  a  Western  merchant  bought  them, 
loaded  them  again  into  boats,  and  floated  them  down- 
stream toward  the  northwest.  But  where  the  river 
made  a  sharp  turn  northward  into  barren  lands  that 
border  the  Arctic  Sea,  he  stopped  and  sold  his  goods  to 
another  man,  who  packed  them  across  land  to  the  Kama 
River.  Here  they  were  sold  again,  perhaps,  and  went 
down  the  Kama  to  the  great  Volga  and  up  the  Volga  as 
far  as  boat  could  go.  Perhaps  here  they  changed  hands 
again,  went  overland  to  the  Lovat  and  down  this  to 
Novgorod  the  Great. 

But  not  only  Chinese  goods  had  been  coming  toward 
Novgorod.  With  just  as  many  changes  from  horse  or 
camel  to  boat  and  back  again,  there  had  been  coming,  for 
many  months,  shawls  and  fine  cotton  cloth  and  diamonds 
and  gold  from  India,  furs  from  the  north  country,  leather 
and  lumber  and  beeswax  from  parts  of  Russia.  And  here 
at  Novgorod  sat  the  Hanseatic  merchants  ready  to  buy 
these  things,  to  load  them  upon  river  boats,  to  float  them 
down  to  the  Baltic  Sea,  to  put  them  into  their  good  ships 
and  carry  them  to  the  towns  of  Germany,  Holland,  Den- 
mark, Sweden,  Norway,  England.  Moreover,  they  had 
brought  to  sell  whatever  the  West  could  make  —  woolen 
cloth,  iron  goods,  wine,  salt. 

That  fair  at  Novgorod  must  have  been  a  wonderful 
sight.     It  went  on  for  several  weeks  in  the  summer. 


THE   WORKERS 


289 


A  Fair 


There  were  hundreds  of  people  to  visit  it.     Every  inn 

must  have  been  so  crowded  that  men  slept  on  the  floors. 

Many  of  the  merchants,  doubtless,  put  up  tents 

of  cloth  or  skin  or  brush  and  camped  on  the 

edge  of  town.     The  Hanse  traders,  perhaps,  invited  a 

few  of  the  richest  visitors  to  be  their  guests  in  their  large, 

comfortable       buildings, 

where   everything   could 

be    securely    locked    at 

night,  inside   the   stout, 

high  fence,  with  guards 

and  dogs,  to  keep  all  safe. 

The  town  was  busy  with 

nothing    but    the    great 

fair.     There  were  a  few 

shops  where  costly  things 

could    be   displayed. 

Some     merchants     who 

dealt  in  precious  goods 

built  temporary  huts  for 

them.     But  most  things 

were  heaped  up  on  the 

ground.      In    one    place 

were  hundreds  of  piles  of 

furs.      In   another  place 

were    bundles    of    silks. 

Here  were  bags  of  salt.     There  were  piles  of  German 

iron.     So  every  kind  of  thing  had  its  place.     Hundreds 

of  merchants  walked  about  among  the  piles,  chattering 

in  a  dozen  different  languages.     It  was  a  place  where 

the  ends  of  the  earth  met. 

At  the  same  time  that  goods  from  northern  and  central 
Asia  were  traveling  west  and  north  to  Novgorod,  other 
things  from  southern  Asia  were  taking  a  shorter  journey  to 


A  Fair 

There  seem  to  be  Chinese  characters  on 

two  of    the  parcels.     Notice   the   scales. 

Another  painted  glass  window 


200  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

Constantinople  or  Damascus  or  Alexandria,  —  spices  from 

Ceylon,  perfume  from  Arabia,  rugs  from  Persia,  pearls 

and  fine  weaving  from  India.     And  merchants 

ou   em      Q£  yenjce  or  0f  piorence  or  0f  Genoa  —  three 

Route 

trading  cities  of  Italy  —  met  the  East  at  these 
places  and  exchanged  their  goods  at  great  fairs,  like  the 
one  at  Novgorod. 

At  first  the  Venetians  were  the  chief  of  these  Italian 
traders.  They  were  children  of  the  sea.  In  early  times, 
„    .  when  their  enemies  had  driven  them  from  the 

Venice 

mainland,  they  had  taken  refuge  on  low  islands 
near  the  coast.  Here  they  had  been  safe,  had  grown 
strong,  and  had  learned  to  sail  the  sea,  because  there 
was  no  other  way  to  move  about.  Since  sailors  are  almost 
always  merchants,  these  Venetians  had  become  traders. 
Because  they  were  tucked  away  on  the  eastern  side  of 
Italy,  it  was  the  eastern  end  of  the  Mediterranean  which 
interested  them.  Their  ships  went  to  the  rich  cities  of 
Cairo  and  Constantinople  and  the  other  ports  of  Asia 
Minor  and  Egypt.  Their  merchants  were  welcome  at 
these  places,  for  they  brought  European  woolen  cloth 
and  European  money. 

Moreover,  the  Venetians  had  made  friends  in  the  East 
by  giving  help  in  time  of  war.  The  Greek  emperor  at 
Constantinople  made  a  treaty  with  them,  granting  their 
merchants  the  right  to  "buy  and  sell  in  all  parts  of  the 
Greek  empire  unmolested  by  agents  of  the  custom- 
houses, finances,  and  harbors.  The  latter  were  for- 
bidden to  inspect  their  goods,  or  to  subject  them  to  any 
tax  whatsoever." 

So  the  Venetian  merchants  built  storehouses  and 
dwellings  for  themselves  in  the  busiest  Eastern  towns. 
Along  the  shores  of  Greece  and  Egypt  and  Asia  was 
many  a  little  Venice  with  its  rich  merchants,  its  ships 


THE  WORKERS  291 

going  and  coming,  its  storehouses,  and  its  own  governor, 
sent  over  from  the  mother  city.  They  were  like  the 
colonies  and  trading  posts  of  old  Greek  days,  and  like 
the  Hanse  settlements  at  Novgorod  and  other  northern 
towns.  From  these  Eastern  posts  the  Venetian  merchants 
carried  silk,  cotton,  indigo,  camphor,  pearls,  diamonds, 
gold,  ivory,  pepper,  ginger,  cinnamon,  allspice. 

All  these  things  were  taken  to  Venice,  but  there  was 
more  than  Venice  could  use.  So  from  here  the  busy 
traders  carried  them  to  other  places.  Every  year  a  fleet 
of  Venetian  ships,  even  larger  and  stronger  than  the 
Hanse  ships,  sailed  west  through  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar, 
rounded  Spain,  and  went  on  to  England  and  Flanders. 
Here,  at  fairs  much  like  the  one  at  Novgorod,  they  met 
Hanse  merchants  and  other  men  from  the  north  coun- 
tries and  traded  goods  with  them.  When  the  ships  again 
reached  Venice,  after  a  year's  absence,  they  brought  to 
her  English  wool  and  tin,  Russian  furs  and  leather,  Ger- 
man iron  and  amber,  Swedish  copper  and  tar  and  pitch. 

So  Venice  became  Queen  of  the  Adriatic  and  of  the 
eastern  Mediterranean.  She  won  islands  in  the  iEgean 
Sea  and  strips  of  coast  along  the  Adriatic  and  thus  built 
up  a  little  empire  for  herself.  At  home  she  had  beautiful 
palaces  and  churches  like  those  of  Florence.  She  had 
two  hundred  ships  of  war. 

Each  year  her  governor,  or  Doge,  was  rowed  out  to 
sea  in  a  vessel  decked  with  hangings  of  silk  and  em- 
broidery from  the  East.     With  him  were  great 
nobles  and  merchants*  of  Venice  in  long  glisten-  Redding 
ing  robes,  dyed  with  the  purples  and  reds  and  Adriatic 
blues   that  their  ships  had  brought  from  far 
lands.     Behind  the  vessel  came  all  the  boats  and  gon- 
dolas of  Venice  crowded  with  her  people.     Priests  sang, 
and  one  prayed,  "  Grant,  O  Lord,  that  this  sea  may  be 


292 


THE  NEWER  NATIONS 


to  us,  and  to  all  who  sail  upon  it,  tranquil  and  quiet. 
Hear  us,  good  Lord."     Then  the  Doge  threw  into  the 

S3 


The  Doge  of  Venice  Going  in  Procession  through  the  City 

This  picture  was  made  in  the  sixteenth  century.     Fashions  in  clothes  had 

changed  since  1300.     Men  from  the  East  looking  from  the  windows  show  the 

great  Eastern  trade  of  Venice.     The  Doge's  costly  robes  and  the  gorgeous 

parasol  show  the  wealth  of  the  city 


THE  WORKERS  293 

sea  a  ring  like  a  wedding  ring,  and  cried,  "We  espouse 
thee,  O  sea,  in  token  of  our  just  and  everlasting  union." 
Thus  did  proud  Venice  proclaim  that  she  was  the  favorite 
of  the  sea,  and  the  ruler  of  it. 

Most  of  this  carrying  and  selling  of  rich  goods,  both  in 
the  North  and  the  South,  was  done  by  meh  of  common 
blood.     To  be  sure,  Frederick  II  had  a  fleet 
of  merchant  ships  and  sent  them  out  to  the  Tc, 
East  to  buy,  and  to  bring  back  goods  to  the 
West  for  sale.1     But  in  general,  princes  and  nobles  still  felt 
that  any  business,  except  the  business  of  war,  was  un- 
worthy of  gentlemen.     So  they  sat  in  their  castles  or  rode 
on  their  war-horses,   encased  in  their  armor  and  their 
pride,  while  merchants  about  them  grew  rich  from  their 
travels  and  their  buying  and  selling. 

But  did  this  mean  that  all  the  common  people  were 
Uf ted  up  out  of  poverty  into  comfort  ?  Did  it  mean  that 
there  were  no  longer  any  "poor  in  the  cottage,  charged  with 
a  crew  of  children  and  with  a  landlord's  rent"?2  Did  it 
mean  that  every  man  in  a  free  town  belonged  to  a  powerful 
gild  and  had  the  privilege  of  helping  to  make  the  city  laws  ? 
By  no  means.  It  meant  that  half  the  common  people, 
perhaps,  had  stepped  up  out  of  their  slavery  and  poverty, 
some  of  them  to  a  place  only  a  little  below  princes. 

A  new  class  had  been  formed.  There  were  now  not 
only  the  noble,  proud  of  his  blood,  and  the  peasant,  proud 
of  nothing;  but  there  was  the  rich  man,  proud  of  his 
riches.  A  certain  German  merchant  "sat  upon  a  silver 
seat,  and  had  his  rooms  hung  with  costly  [tapestry]. 
When  he  married,  he,  like  a  royal  personage,  caused  the 
road  from  his  house  to  the  church  to  be  overspread  with 
a  Flanders  carpet,  while  musicians  played,  day  and  night, 
before  his  door."     But  these  rich  men,  though  they  were 

1  See  page  169.  *  See  page'257. 


294 


THE  NEWER  NATIONS 


of  common  blood,  were  no  more  friends  to  the  poor  man 
than  the  nobles  were. 

It  was  the  gilds  who  had  been  the  best  helpers  of  the 
poor  man  in  his  fight  against  his  lord,  but  soon  they 


Merchants  Welcoming  a  Queen 

She  is  being  carried  to  the  Gate  of  Paris.  There  a  bishop  awaits  her  while 
ladies  and  a  jester  look  down  from  the  wall.  Wealthy  merchants  on  horseback 
line  the  streets  to  do  her  honor,  and  are  themselves  honored  by  being  present 


deserted  him  and  set  up  a  new  master  over  him.  For 
Change  almost  every  gild,  as  it  grew  old  and  powerful, 
in  the  grew  proud  and  narrow  and  hard  and  forgot  its 

Gilds  early  belief  in  brotherhood.     Its  richest  mem- 

bers began  to  change  its  rules  in  order  to  shut  out  the 
poor  man.  It  refused  to  take  any  new  members,  per- 
haps, except  the  sons  of  its  old  members.  Or  it  raised 
the  dues  until  no  poor  man  could  pay  them.    In  this  way 


THE  WORKERS  295 

the  gilds  came  to  be  rich  men's  societies ;  and  outside  of 
them  were  the  poor  weavers,  coopers,  stonecutters, 
cobblers,  eager  to  be  hired  by  these  richer  brothers  of  their 
trades.  And  often  they  were  hired  at  miserably  low 
wages,  so  that  they  lived  in  poverty  and  discomfort.  An 
old  Florentine  writer  speaks  of  "the  hatred  with  which 
the  lower  classes  always  regarded  the  rich  citizens  and  the 
heads  of  the  gilds,  because  the  workmen  were  always  dis- 
satisfied with  the  wage  they  received."  And  many  broils 
and  much  bloodshed  this  discontent  caused  in  Florence, 
where  the  gilds  were  all-powerful,  —  the  gilds  which  had 
once  been  poor  men's  brotherhoods  but  were  now  the 
poor  men's  hard  masters. 

The  same  thing  became  true  of  all  the  great  manu- 
facturing and  trading  cities  of  Italy,  France,  Germany, 
the  Netherlands,  England.  That  same  struggle  between 
the  workers  and  the  men  who  hire  them  is  still  going  on 
to-day.  It  is  one  of  the  old,  unsettled  questions  that  we 
have  inherited  from  the  Middle  Ages. 


1.  Your  grandfathers  "rested"  their  land  in  the  same  way  that 
men  did  in  the  Middle  Ages.  Find  out  whether  farmers  do  it  now, 
and,  if  not,  what  they  do,  instead,  to  keep  their  land  fertile.  2.  Collect 
pictures  of  modern  farm  implements.  Mount  them  on  cardboard  and 
draw  beside  each  one  the  old-fashioned  way  of  doing  the  work  that 
the  implement  does.  3.  Should  you  rather  be  an  apprentice  in  a  shop 
like  the  medieval  harness-maker's  shop  described  on  page  265  or  a 
worker  in  a  large  modern  harness  factory?  Why?  4.  Tell  somebody 
who  belongs  to  a  labor  union  about  the  old  gilds  and  ask  him  whether 
they  are  at  all  like  the  unions  and  how  they  are  different.  5.  What  is 
the  difference  between  the  fairs  of  the  Middle  Ages  and  the  county 
and  state  fairs  that  we  have  now? 


Members  of  the  Choir  Sitting  in  Their  Stalls 
at  Church 

A   bishop    is  reading  from   a  missal   which  a  boy  holds. 

Notice   the  bishop's  cap   and  his  staff,   or  crosier.     It  is 

made  like  a  shepherd's  crook,  because  the  bishop  is  the 

shepherd  of  his  people 


CHAPTER  XII 


RELIGION  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 

Christian  Missionaries 

By  Constantine's  time  Christianity  had  become  the 
chief  religion  of  the  Roman  empire.1  But  that  did  not 
satisfy  Christians.  They  wanted  it  to  be  the  religion  of 
the  whole  world.  With  some  it  was  a  matter  of  pride : 
they  longed  to  see  their  church  the  mistress  of  the  world. f 
With  many  it  was  a  matter  of  love  :  they  believed  that  any 
who  were  not  Christians  would  suffer  after  death,  and  they 
could  not  bear  that  thought.     So  men  kept  going  out 

1  See  pag«  135. 


RELIGION  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES  297 

among  the  heathen  to  preach,  as  Paul  and  the  apostles  had 
done  in  the  beginning,1  and  as  men  are  still  doing  to-day. 

When  the  fierce  Angles  and  Jutes  and  Saxons  came 
into  England,2  they  still  worshiped  Woden   and   Thor. 
But    about    six   hundred   years    after    Christ, 
Augustine,  a  saintly  priest,  with  forty  helpers,  Augustine 
was  sent  from  Rome  to  convert  these  English.3  597  A  D 
The  king  of  Kent,  learning  that  they  were  come, 
bade  them  remain  on  a  certain  little  island  until  he  should 
go  to  meet  them. 

Bede,  an  English  bishop,  who  lived  a  hundred  years 
or  more  after  this  time,  tells  of  that  meeting  in  his  book. 
"Some  days  after,  the  king  came  into  the  island,  and  sit- 
ting in  the  open  air,  ordered  Augustine  and  his  com- 
panions to  be  brought  into  his  presence,  for  he  had  taken 
precaution  that  they  should  not  come  to  him  in  any  house, 
lest,  according  to  an  ancient  superstition,  if  they  prac- 
tised any  magical  arts,  they  might  impose  upon  him  and 
so  get  the  better  of  him.  But  they  came  furnished  with 
divine,  not  with  magic  virtue,  bearing  a  silver  cross  for 
their  banner  and  the  image  of  our  Lord  and  Savior 
painted  on  a  board ;  and  singing  the  litany  they  offered 
up  prayers  to  the  Lord  for  the  eternal  salvation  both  of 
themselves  and  of  those  to  whom  they  were  come." 

The  king  allowed  them  to  enter  the  greatest  of  his 
cities  and  to  dwell  there.  They  lived  sweetly,  praying* 
and  preaching ;  many  people  were  baptized,  and  presently 
the  king  himself.  Churches  were  built,  and  old  temples 
purified,  —  the  idols  destroyed,  holy  water  sprinkled, 
and  altars  set  up. 

Even  so,  it  was  long  before  all  England  had  become 
Christian.  The  new  religion  began  in  a  southern  corner 
and  only  slowly  spread  through  the  whole  country.     A 

1  See  page  130.  2  See  page  182.  3  See  note  on  page  187. 


298  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

hundred  years  or  more  after  Augustine,  however,  Chris- 
tian England  herself  began  to  send  out  missionaries  to 
other  lands  about  her  who  were  yet  heathen  —  to  the 
Swedes  and  the  Danes  and  the  Germans. 

One  of  the  greatest  of  these  Christian  teachers  was 
Boniface.  Many  missionaries  before  him  had  worked  in 
Germany,  and  here  and  there  were  small  churches  with 
Boniface  ^le  bands  of  Christians.  Yet  these  were  so 
among  the  few  and  so  weak  that  they  were  lost  in  the 
Germans,  great  heathen  mass  of  the  German  nation ;  and 
71  '  Boniface  was  eager  to  convert  the  whole  people. 
Indeed,  inside  of  seventeen  years  after  he  began  to  work, 
one  hundred  thousand  people  were  baptized. 

He  went  about  it  in  a  way  somewhat  different  from 
that  in  which  earlier  missionaries  had  worked.  He  built 
churches  as  the  others  had  done,  but  instead  of  settling 
down  with  his  first  church  he  left  it  in  charge  of  two  or 
three  helpers  who  had  come  with  him  from  England, 
while  he  pushed  on  into  new  places  to  found  new  churches. 
Now,  Boniface  had  seen  other  new  Christians  who,  left 
alone  in  the  heathen  lands,  had  sunk  back  into  their  old 
heathen  customs.  So  he  planned  to  bind  all  his  German 
churches  together  that  they  might  become  a  part  of  a 
great  Christian  world,  sisters  among  sisters  and  all  obedient 
to  the  same  father,  the  pope. 

Church  Organization 

There  was  a  wonderful  family  of  churches  in  Europe 
at  that  time,  all  knit  together  from  the  lowest  priest  to 

the  mighty  pope.  It  was  done  in  this  way. 
Priests  ^  everv  church  there  were  priests  to  preach, 
Bishops       t°  give  communion,  to  hear  the  confessions  of 

their  people.  In  some  great  churches  there  were 
many,  as  well  as  the  priests'  assistants  with  their  dif- 


RELIGION  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 


299 


ferent  duties  of  singing,  of  reading  the  scriptures,  of 
carrying  the  sacred  vessels.  One  priest  was  chosen  to 
be  head  of  this  company,  and  a  deacon  to  be  in  charge 
of  the  assistants. 

Over  all  the  churches  of  a  certain  region  ruled  a  bishop. 
He  received  new  members,  created  priests,  planned  the 


A  Bishop  Ordaining  a  Priest 


services  for  all  his  churches,  advised  all  the  priests  and 
assistants,  and  punished  them  if  it  became  necessary.  He 
visited  the  churches  of  his  district,  or  diocese,  and  he 
called  meetings  of  his  priests  to  consider  church  questions. 
There  were  about  thirty  bishops  in  England  and  three  or 
four  times  as  many  in  France  and  Germany.    These 


300  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

bishops  must  not  stray  too  far  apart,  so  an  archbishop 
was  in  charge  of  ten  or  twenty  of  them.  He  held  meet- 
ings for  discussions  and  lawmaking. 

Standing  above  all  these  priests  and  bishops  and  arch- 
bishops was  the  pope/  whom  people  regarded  as  Christ's 
special  representative  on  earth,  supreme  ruler 
of  all  the  church  and  father  of  all  Christian 
people.  To  him  bishops  and  archbishops  reported  the 
condition  of  their  priests,  their  people,  their  finances. 
From  him  they  sought  advice  and  took  laws.  He  was  the 
mightiest  ruler  of  the  world,  and  ruled  the  greatest  of  all 
kingdoms  —  western  Christendom.  To  help  him  with  his 
work  he  had  cardinals.  They  assisted  when  he  said  mass, 
they  carried  his  messages  to  princes  and  kings,  they  were 
ready  to  advise  if  he  asked  them  and  to  do  anything  that 
he  willed.  In  order  to  keep  the  whole  Christian  world 
still  more  closely  linked,  the  pope  held  great  councils  now 
and  then  to  discuss  large  matters  and  to  make  church  laws. 
To  these  councils  came  cardinals,  archbishops,  bishops, 
abbots,  and  even  the  most  learned  and  wise  of  the  lower 
priests.  Thus  the  pope,  besides  being  a  priest  of  God,  was 
a  mighty  lord  among  men,  and  in  the  same  way  bishops 
and  cardinals  were  princes  and  the  equals  of  kings. 

It  was  into  this  great  Christian  family  that  Boniface 
led  his  churches,  when  the  pope  made  him  archbishop  of 
all  Germany.  With  the  help  and  encouragement  of  this 
wonderful  organization  the  German  church  prospered 
and  spread. 

Monasteries 

Another  thing  that  Boniface  did  for  the  Germans  was 
to  build  monasteries  among  them.  Monasteries  were 
wonderful  institutions,  and  this  is  how  they  came  to  be. 

JSee  pages  164-165. 


A  Cathedral  of  the  Middle  Ages 
Built  in  the  thirteenth  century  at  Rheims,  France 


[301] 


302  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

Many  people  of  those  times  felt  that  the  world  was 
wicked  or  that  it  was  frivolous.  A  man  found  that  when 
he  lived  with  his  family,  his  mind  was  most  of  the  time 
busy  with  thoughts  of  them.  If  he  worked  in  the  world 
to  make  his  living,  his  mind  was  full  of  business  and 
money  affairs.  "I  want  to  think  only  about  God,"  he 
said  to  himself.  "I  must  run  away  from  all  these  things 
that  hold  my  soul  down  to  the  earth.  I  must  forget  my 
business,  my  family,  my  body.  I  must  remember  only 
God." 

In  trying  to  cut  their  souls  loose  from  all  earthly 
interests  men  at  first  did  what  seem  to  some  of  us  strange 
things.  They  fled  into  the  deserts  and  lived  alone  in 
caves,  thinking  there  to  find  time  to  muse  upon  God's 
goodness.  They  kept  themselves  awake  for  many  days 
and  nights  together,  that  they  might  pray  continually. 
They  said :  "It  is  our  bodies  that  keep  our  souls  from 
God.  They  make  us  think  of  food  and  drink  and  com- 
fort and  pleasure."  So  they  punished  their  bodies  by 
starving  them,  by  lashing  them  with  whips,  by  leaving 
them  bare  in  the  cold,  and  by  dressing  them  in  rough, 
harsh  clothes.  Some  men  almost  made  skeletons  of  them- 
selves, thinking  that  in  this  way  their  souls  would  be  free 
to  dwell  upon  thoughts  of  God. 

Benedict,  a  young  Italian  nobleman,  was  one  of  these 
people  who  fled  from  men  in  order  to  be  with  God.  When 
Benedict  he  was  only  fifteen  years  old  he  went  alone 
and  His  ^q  the  bare,  desert  mountains  near  Rome. 
Monks*  There  he  found  a  little  gorge  with  sides  so  steep 
526  (?)  that  it  was  almost  like  a  pit.  He  lived  here  for 
A.D.  three  years,  only  one  man  knowing  where  he 

was.  This  man  visited  him  sometimes  and  let  down  to 
him  a  little  bread  by  a  rope. 

After  a  while  people  learned  that  Benedict  was  living 


RELIGION  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES  303 

a  hermit's  life  there  in  the  mountains,  and  they  came  to 
see  him.  They  found  him  with  wild  hair  and  beard,  his 
thin,  weather-beaten  body  dressed  in  skins.  But  they 
found  him  full  of  wisdom,  too,  and  gentleness  and  holi- 
ness. Now  that  men  had  discovered  him,  he  left  his 
rocky  pit  and  went  back  into  the  world  to  preach.  But 
his  longing  soul  drew  him  back  again  into  the  wilderness. 
Yet  men  kept  coming  to  ask  him  to  teach  them  and  to 
pray  for  them;  and  they  begged  that  they  might  stay 
with  him.  So  at  last  he  built  there  in  the  mountains 
twelve  houses.  And  in  these  lived  people  who  came  flee- 
ing from  wickedness  and  seeking  goodness. 

But  after  a  time  there  were  troubles  here,  and  Benedict 
with  a  few  followers  went  away  to  a  new  place  and  built 
a  new  monastery  where  lovers  of  God  might  dwell  to- 
gether in  the  wilderness.  Many  people  came  there,  poor 
men  and  rich,  old  men  and  boys,  drawn,  by  the  great 
fame  of  Benedict.  He,  seeing  his  home  full  of  brothers, 
knew  that  there  must  be  rules  to  govern  so  great  a  family ; 
moreover  he  had  faith  that  the  monastery  would  live  for 
many  years  and  that  others  would  spring  up  from  seeds 
sown  by  him;  so  he  needed  to  think  long  and  to  pray 
earnestly  in  making  his  plans. 

The  rules  which  he  finally  wrote  we  can  still  read  to- 
day. The  monks,  as  they  were  called,  were  to  live 
together  as  brothers.  They  ate  in  one  great  room. 
They  slept  in  little  alcoves  or  cells  opening  off  one  large 
dormitory.  Together  they  sang  and  prayed  in  the 
chapel.  They  were  to  be  courteous  and  kind  one  to  the 
other.  Older  monks  called  the  younger  ones  "  brother," 
and  the  younger  called  the  older  "  father."  The  younger 
always  stood  in  the  presence  of  the  older  brother  and 
asked  his  blessing.  The  brothers  were  to  live  together 
simply  and  in  loving  equality.      There   were   no   rich 


3°4 


THE  NEWER  NATIONS 


clothes  in  the  monastery.  Every  monk  wore  a  long, 
loose  robe  of  coarse  stuff,  and  a  cape  with  a  hood,  clean 
and  warm,  but  poor  and  homely,  giving  no  temptation 
to  vanity.  Nor  did  the  monks  have 
costly  food.  There  were  but  two  meals 
a  day,  and  these  consisted  of  only 
bread  and  vegetables  and  perhaps  fruit 
and  fish  or  fowl. 

There  was  no  such  thing  as  private 
wealth  in  the  monastery.  Every  man 
when  he  became  a  monk  put  aside  his 
money,  giving  it  to  some  relative,  to  the 
poor,  or  to  the  monastery.  The  rule 
says:  "[The  monk]  should  have  abso- 
lutely not  anything :  neither  a  book  nor 

A  Monk  with  Gifts  tables  nor  a  pen,  —  nothing  at  all.  For 
for  His  Monastery    indeed  ft  y  ^  ^^  ^  ^  monks  tQ 

have  their  own  bodies  or  wills  in  their  own  power.  But 
all  things  necessary  they  must  expect  from,  the  Father 
of  the  monastery." 

This  Father,  or  abbot,  was  to  be  chosen  by  the  monks 
themselves.  He  was  to  rule  the  great  family  lovingly, 
but  wisely  and  firmly.  The  brothers  were  to  obey  him 
absolutely.  Any  one  who  disobeyed  him  or  who  broke 
any  of  the  rules  was  to  be  punished :  he  might  not  eat 
at  the  table  with  his  brothers  or  go  with  them  into 
the  chapel  to  pray;  he  might  not  speak  to  them.  He 
might,  if  the  abbot  thought  best,  be  whipped ;  or,  if  he 
continued  disobedient,  he  might  be  expelled  from  the 
monastery. 

These  men  had  come  together  for  the  sake  of  cleansing 
their  souls  and  praising  God.  Seven  times  during  the  day 
they  gathered  in  the  church  and  sang  psalms  and  prayers. 
The  first  of  these  services  was  at  the  dawning  of  the  day, 


RELIGION  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 


305 


the  last  after  sunset.    At  midnight,  too,  the  monks  arose 

from  their  sleep  and  went  to  church  for  prayer. 

The  rule  says,  "They  shall  sleep  clothed  and  ^^p 

girt  with  belts  or  with  ropes.  .  .  .     And  let  the  Monastery 

monks  be  always  on  the  alert."    There  was  a 

library,   too,   stored  with  religious   books.      These  the 

brothers  borrowed  and  read  alone  in 

their  little  alcoves  off  the  dormitory. 

The  monks  were  to  behave  always 
in  such  a  way  that  their  minds  and 
the  minds  of  their  brothers  would  be 
free  to  think  of  great  things,  not  of 
little.  The  rule  bids  them  to  "speak 
slowly  and  without  laughter,  humbly, 
with  gravity,  using  few  and  reason- 
able words."  At  meal  time  all  sat 
without  speaking  and  listened  to  one 
who  read  to  them  out  of  some  reli- 
gious book.  And  after  the  evening 
services  they  sat  together  again  silent, 
while  one  read. 

But  not  all  the  day  could  be  given  over  to  prayer  and 
reading ;  for,  after  all,  men's  bodies  must  live.     Food  had 
to  be  cooked,  floors  had  to  be  scrubbed,  clothes 
had  to  be  washed,  garments  had  to  be  made.  ^f0T^m 
At  all  these  tasks  the  brothers  took  turns;   no  tery 
work  was  thought  to  be  mean.     A  monk  who 
had   lived   as   the   son   of   a   duke,  perhaps,  knelt   and 
scrubbed  a  floor  beside  a  man  who  had  been  his  father's 
villain,  and  was  glad  in  such  a  way  to  serve  his  brothers. 

Nor  were  these  housekeeping  tasks  all  the  work  that 
was  done.  "Idleness  is  the  enemy  of  the  soul,"  says  the 
rule.  "And  therefore  at  fixed  times  the  brothers  ought 
to  be  occupied  in  manual  labor."     So  the  monastery 


An  Abbot 


306 


THE  NEWER  NATIONS 


The  Crowning  of  the  Virgin  Mary 

An  old  picture  on  the  wall  of  a  monastery  in  Florence,  painted  by  a  monk 
called  Fra  Angelico.  Six  saints  are  watching  the  coronation.  The  one  at  the 
right  of  the  center  is  St.  Francis,  wearing  the  brown  dress  of  the  Franciscan 
order.  Facing  him  is  St.  Dominic,  wearing  the  black-and-white  costume  of  the 
Dominicans.     Behind  Dominic  is  St.  Benedict. 


planned  work  for  its  monks.  There  was  always  the 
kitchen  garden  where  vegetables  for  the  table  were 
grown.  There  were  sheep  to  be  tended,  cows  to  be  fed 
and  milked,  and  butter  and  cheese  to  be  made.     There 


RELIGION  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES  307 

was  fuel  to  be  brought  from  the  peat  bogs  or  the  forest. 
There  were  shoes  to  be  cobbled,  chairs  to  be  mended, 
wooden  platters  and  bowls  for  the  tables  to  be  made. 
Perhaps  there  was  a  vineyard  with  grapes  to  be  gathered 
and  made  into  wine.  Each  brother  worked  at  some 
manual  labor  for  seven  hours  each  day. 

Men  found  life  in  the  monasteries  so  cheering  to  their 
souls  that  thousands  were  built  throughout  Europe,  some 
with  Benedict's  rule  for  their  law,  others  with  new  rules, 
but  all  with  the  same  purpose.  Many  women,  also,  felt 
the  call  to  live  holy  lives,  and  convents  were  built  for 
them,  with  the  same  sort  of  rules  and  much  the  same  kind 
of  costumes  as  were  found  in  the  monasteries. 

Some  monasteries  were  like  great  workshops,  others 
like  great  farms.  This  fact  was  one  of  the  things  that 
made  them  good  civilizers.  Imagine  a  large  monastery 
built  in  the  forests  of  Germany,  where  the  people  knew 
little  about  farming  and  manufacturing,  but  were  content 
to  live  in  a  wild  way  in  a  wild  forest.  They  would  see 
the  monks  every  day  at  work,  cutting  down  trees,  clearing 
land,  draining  swamps,  plowing,  planting,  cultivating. 
They  would  see  growing  new  crops  that  they  had  never 
seen  before,  the  seed  brought  by  some  monk  from  his 
own  more  civilized  country.  They  would  see  men  using 
tools  and  making  things  of  which  they  had  never  heard 
before.  They  would  see  new  breeds-  of  cattle  and  see 
them  fed  and  treated  in  new  ways.  Moreover,  the 
monks  were  eager  to  teach  what  they  knew  about  farm- 
ing and  industry,  and  soon  their  neighbors  would  be  copy- 
ing their  ways,  borrowing  their  seed,  buying  their  cattle, 
learning  the  habits  of  more  civilized  people. 

The  monks  were  not  content  to  teach  only  these  manual 
arts,  nor  were  their  neighbors  content  to  learn  only  these. 
They  saw  the  monks  reading  books,   they  heard  them 


3o8 


THE  NEWER  NATIONS 


Monastery 
Schools 


sing,  they  listened  to  their  talk  of  other  lands  and  peoples 
and  times.  They  wanted  their  sons  to  learn 
these  things  also.  Therefore  the  monks  opened 
schools  in  their  monasteries.  Here  they  taught 
boys  to  read  and  write  and  to  speak  in  Latin.  That 
was  the  language  of  learning  and  of  the  church.  All  her 
prayers  and  masses  and  psalms  were  written  in  it ;  for 
they  had  been  made  in  the  days  when  the  Romans  were 

masters  of  the  world  and 
when  all  men  had  spoken 
their  language. 

Besides  teaching  boys 
how  to  read  and  farmers 
Book-  k°w  to   do   their 

making        work  better   and 

in  the  q\\    men    now    to 


Monastery 


live    together    in 


A  Monk  in  a  Library 
Before  him  is  a  reading  stand 


peace  and  love,  the  monas- 
tery did  another  thing  for 
civilization.  The  monks 
liked  to  have  books  to  read, 
but  books  in  those  days 
were  very  rare  and  precious 
things.  Nowadays  printing  is  a  rapid  process ;  5000  copies 
of  this  book  that  you  are  reading  were  printed  in  14  days. 
But  in  those  early  times  men  did  not  know  how  to  print 
with  type.     Every  book  had  to  be  written  by  hand. 

Nor  was  it  written  on  sheets  of  paper;  for  paper  is 
another  modern  invention.  It  was  done  on  sheepskin 
and  calfskin.  The  monks  themselves  prepared  this. 
They  first  soaked  the  hide  in  limewater  to  loosen  the  hair. 
Then  they  spread  it  on  boards  and  cleaned  it  of  the  hair 
and  flesh,  washed  it  thoroughly,  and  stretched  it  on  a 
frame  to  dry.     After  that  it  had  to  be  pared  and  thinned 


RELIGION  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 


309 


A  Picture  painted  by  a  Monk  in  an  Old  Book 
It  shows  a  new  baby  in  Paris  about  the  year  1400.     The  baby  is  wrapped 


swaddling  clothes. 


Notice  the  gentlemen's  fur-lined  cloaks  and  the  soft  shoes. 
These  are  probably  wealthy  merchants 


with  sharp  knives  and  rubbed  smooth  with  pumice  and 
chalk.  At  last  it  lay  there  a  beautiful,  clean,  shining, 
creamy  piece  of  vellum  ready  for  the  writing. 

A  monk  cut  it  into  pieces  of  the  right  size  for  the  pages 
of  his  new  book.     Suppose  he  were  going  to  make  a  missal 


3io 


THE  NEWER  NATIONS 


with  the  words  of  the  mass,  from  which  several  brothers 
might  read  at  once,  as  they  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder  in 
the  choir  of  the  church.  Perhaps  he  would  cut  his  pages 
three  feet  long  and  two  feet  wide.  He  might  need  a 
hundred  sheets  or  more,  and  it  would  take  a  goodly 
flock  of  sheep  or  calves  to  make  such  a  book. 

With  these  fair,  creamy  pages  he  sat  down  in  the  library, 
or  the  scriptorium,  with  ink  pot  and  brushes  and  little  sticks 
of  color.  Carefully  he  began  to  paint  on  the  precious  vel- 
lum the  great,  sturdy  black  letters  of  the  Latin  hymns. 
But  he  was  not  content  with  the  gloomy  black ;  the  words 
seemed  to  him  so  beautiful  that  all  the  time  pictures  of  joy 
were  floating  through  his  mind.  And  he  thought,  too,  ".I 
must  remind  my  singing  brothers  of  the  beauty  of  God's 
earth  and  of  His  word."  So  he  dipped  his  brushes  into 
bright  colors  and  made  flowers  bloom  on  his  page,  along 

the  margins  and  between  the 
lines.  And  sometimes  a 
spreading  letter  "  Y"  took  the 
form  of  an  elm  tree  with  a 
clambering  grape  vine  laden 
with  fruit.  Or  angels  stepped 
from  the  top  of  the  capital 
"T."  When  all  the  pages 
were  done,  they  were  bound 
between  boards  made  beauti- 
ful with  silver  nails  and  carved 

silver  corners  and  clasps.     To 
Initial    Letter   from    an    Old  ^ 

Manuscript  make    such    a    book    needed 

in  it  a  monk  is  shown  at  work  on  a  many  months.     It  was  a  labor 

book  of  love;    only  a  lover  of  the 

words  would  have  spent  the  time,   and  only  an  artist 

would  have  had  the  power  to  draw  such  pages. 

While  one  brother  was  making  this  missal,  perhaps  in 


RELIGION  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES  311 

the  corner  of  the  room  another  monk  was  reading  slowly 
from  some  rare  book  while  six  or  seven  brothers  sat  near 
him  at  writing  desks  carefully  printing  the  words  again 
on  vellum  pages.  Day  after  day  they  worked  so,  until 
they  had  made  six  or  seven  new  copies  of  an  old  book. 
One  of  these  was  sent,  perhaps,  to  the  brothers  of  some 
friendly  monastery  who  had  longed  to  read  the  book,  yet 
did  not  possess  it.  Perhaps  one  copy  went  to  some  great 
prince  who  cared  for  learning  as  Charlemagne  or  Alfred 
did. 

It  was  such  work  as  this  that  saved  for  us  until  to-day 
the  writings  of  olden  times.  When  types  were  invented 
and  we  began  to  make  books  on  printing  presses,  it  was 
most  often  to  old  monasteries  that  people  went  to  get 
the  matter  to  be  printed.  The  libraries  were  full  not  only 
of  the  writings  of  the  church  fathers  who  had  lived  in 
the  Middle  Ages,  but  they  were  filled,  also,  with  copies  of 
old  Roman  and  Greek  works,  for  these  monks  had  loved 
all  learning. 

And  sometimes  the  brothers  did  more  than  merely 
copy  old  books;  they  made  new  ones.  A  monk  lived 
perhaps  fifty,  sixty,  or  eighty  years  and  died,  . 

but  his  monastery  lived  on.  Some  of  them 
have  lived  through  a  thousand  years  of  history,  have  seen 
kings  come  and  go,  wars  rage,  cities  spring  up  and  grow 
old,  gilds  flourish  and  die.  In  many  of  them  the  monks, 
though  sitting  apart  from  the  world,  yet  heard  of  all  these 
interesting  things  that  happened  and  thought  fit  to  write 
them  down.  At  other  times,  a  monk  would  keep  a  kind 
of  diary  of  the  happenings  inside  the  monastery  —  what 
visitors  came,  what  abbots  were  elected,  what  cures  were 
performed,  what  holy  deeds  were  done.  After  the  death 
of  the  writer  another  continued  the  diary.  Soon  it  came 
to  seem  a  precious  book,  worth  keeping  and  continuing. 


312  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

It  was  given  a  place,  perhaps,  in  the  scriptorium,  or 
writing  room,  and  a  monk  was  appointed  to  write  in  it 
all  important  happenings.  Thus  a  chronicle  or  history 
of  the  time  grew,  month  by  month,  and  was  preserved 
in  the  library. 

Now  when  we  want  to  learn  of  a  certain  time  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  we  look  in  the  old  monastery  chronicles  for 
information  and  see  the  very  people  of  the  time  as  the 
people  of  the  time  saw  them.  In  this  book  that  you  are 
reading,  I  have  quoted  from  several  of  these  old  monkish 
chronicles  —  from  the  one  by  William  of  Malmesbury, 
the  one  by  Matthew  Paris,  and  the  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle. 

Monasteries  had  another  use  in  early  days.  Remem- 
ber that  roads  were  few  and  poor,  but  robbers  were  many 
Guests  anc^  bold.  There  was  little  travel;  yet  some 
at  the  men   did  travel,   and  on  important  business, 

Monas-  but  they  found  few  places  where  they  might 
spend  the  night  and  get  their  meals.  There 
were  inns  in  towns,  but  they  were  crowded  and  noisy 
and  too  far  apart  for  comfortable  traveling.  So  the 
monasteries  felt  it  their  duty  to  open  their  gates  to  guests. 
They  built  houses  for  visitors,  and  stables  for  horses; 
and  brothers  were  appointed  to  serve  the  strangers. 
The  abbot  himself  invited  them  to  his  own  table. 

Benedict's  rule  says:  "All  guests  who  come  shall  be 
received  as  though  they  were  Christ ;  for  He  himself  said, 
'I  was  a  stranger  and  ye  took  me  in.'  .  .  .  When,  there- 
fore, a  guest  is  announced,  the  prior  or  the  brothers  shall 
run  to  meet  him  with  every  office  of  love.  And  first 
they  shall  pray  together;  and  thus  they  shall  be  joined 
together  in  peace.  .  .  .  The  abbot  shall  give  water  into 
the  hands  of  his  guests;  and  the  abbot  as  well  as  the 
whole  congregation  shall  wash  the  feet  of  all  guests.  .  .  . 
Chiefly  in  the  reception  of  the  poor  and  of  the  pilgrims 


RELIGION  IN  THE  MIDDLE  -AGES  313 

shall  care  be  most  anxiously  exhibited :  for  in  them  Christ 
is  received  the  more," 

Some  monasteries  became  very  rich;    for  many  men 
made  presents  to  them  because  they  loved  the 
monks  and  because  they  loved  God,  and  some-  ^ift5rt0 
times  because  they  were  wicked  and  hoped  in  teries 
this  way  to  win  forgiveness  for  their  sins. 

In  the  reign  of  William  the  Conqueror,  a  certain 
Thorold  made  a  good  gift  to  the  monastery  of  Croyland, 
namely  his  whole  manor,  with  all  the  buildings  and 
cattle  and  rents  that  serfs  were  paying.  "He  applied 
himself  with  all  diligence,"  the  old  chronicle  says,  "to  re- 
move his  household  from  the  said  estate,  and  then  to 
put  his  chapel  in  better  condition,  and  to  change  the  hall 
into  a  refectory,  the  chamber  into  a  dormitory,  and  the 
place  for  exercise  into  a  cloister  for  the  monks.  Besides 
this,  he  gave  to  the  monks  all  the  beasts  of  burden  in  the 
manor  that  were  suited  for  the  purposes  of  agriculture, 
and  all  the  other  implements  and 
utensils  that  were  [needed]  for  cook- 
ing, brewing,  and  baking." 

We  have,  moreover,  the  names 
of  twelve  other  people  who  made 
gifts  to  Croyland.  One  of  them 
was  a  countess,  some  were  knights, 
others  were  servants  of  the  king, — 
his  butler,  his  cook,  his  messenger. 
Some  of  them  gave  only  a  few 
acres  of  land,  others  gave  hundreds  A  GlFT  T°J*E  Mo*as- 
of  acres  of  meadow  and  marsh  and 

plow  land,  with  churches  and  mills  and  houses  and  poor 
cottages  where  villains  lived. 

In  such  ways  many  monasteries  came  to  own  thousands 
of  acres  with  farms  and  villages  and  castles  upon  them. 


314 


THE  NEWER  NATIONS 


Wealth 
of  the 
Monas- 
teries 


The  people  on  these  farms  and  in  these  villages  paid 
dues  to  the  monastery,  as  other  men  did  to 
their  lords,  and  worked  the  monks'  lands,  as 
other  peasants  worked  the  lands  of  their  lords. 
The  knights  of  castles  that  were  built  on  the 
lands  of  the  monastery  paid  homage  to  the  abbot,  as 
other  knights  did  to  great  dukes,  and  fought  for  him  if  it 
became  necessary.  So  money  and  crops  came  pouring 
in.  Much  of  this  went  to  help  the  poor,  perhaps;  for 
every  monastery  had  officers  appointed  to  care  for  the 
needy,  to  give  them  food  and  clothing,  and  to  tend  them 
if  they  were  sick.  Every  day  at  a  certain  hour  the  poor 
came  to  the  gates,  and  the  monks  gave  out  bread  and 
wine.  At  a  certain  German  monastery  the  monks  gave 
help  to  thirty  people  every  day.  mi  i 

But  much  of  this  money  went  to  make  the  monastery 

b  eautif  ul . 
Perhaps  the 
altar  would  be 
covered  over 
with  wrought 
gold.  Won- 
derful golden 
cups  and 
pitchers  and 
bowls  would 
be  bought  to 
be  used  in  the 
mass.  Beau- 
tiful windows 
of    s  tained 

glass  with  pictures  of  Christ  and  the  saints  would  be  put 
into  the  chapel.  A  new  church  of  stone,  with  carved 
doorways  and  a  watching  statue  above,  would  be  built. 


A  Monastery  Cloister 
In  a  California  mission 


1 

D 


IS 

J  u 

14 

i  r 

13 

f& 


1 

□  2 

& 


II 


□  3 


□  5 


n« 

NlNTH-CENTTTRY  PLAN   OF  A   MONASTERY    (St.    GALL,   SWITZERLAND) 

1.  Large  building  unmarked  on  the  original  plan.  2.  Servants'  quarters.  3.  Pigsty. 
4.  Stable.  5.  Cattle  shed.  6.  Goat  house.  7.  Sheep  shed.  8.  Brew-house  and 
bakehouse  for  guests.  9.  Towers  with  spiral  staircases.  10.  Guest  house  for  the  poor, 
with  brew-house  and  bakehouse  attached.  11.  Another  stable.  12.  Quarters  for  serv- 
ants. 13.  House  for  drying  fruits.  14.  Storehouse  for  grain  for  brewing.  15.  Cooper 
shop  and  wood-turning  shop.  16.  Church.  17.  Porter's  lodge.  18.  House  for  greater 
guests.  19.  Cellar  with  storehouses  above.  20.  Kitchen  for  monks.  21.  Brew-house 
and  bakehouse  for  monks.  22.  Buildings  with  mills.  23.  Shops  of  shoemakers,  sad- 
dlers, carvers,  tanners,  goldsmiths,  blacksmiths,  fullers,  shield-makers,  and  sword- 
makers.  24.  1st  floor,  refectory ;  2d  floor,  wardrobe.  25.  Garth  with  cloisters. 
26.  School-master's  lodging.  27.  School.  28.  Abbot's  house.  29.  Home  of  visiting 
monks.  30.  1st  floor,  scriptorium;  2d  floor,  library.  31.  Dormitory,  heating  ap- 
paratus on  1st  floor.  '32.  Baths.  33.  Granary  and  threshing  floor.  34.  Hen-houses 
and  duck  houses.  35.  Poultry-keeper's  house.  36.  Kitchen  garden.  37.  Gardener's 
house.  38.  Cemetery  and  orchard.  39.  House  for  novices.  40.  Chapel  for  novice* 
and  invalids.  41.  Infirmary.  42.  Garden  of  medicinal  plants.  43.  Physician's  house. 
44.   House  for  blood-letting 

[31S] 


316  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

Artists  would  be  paid  to  paint  its  walls  with  angels  and 
saints.  Strange  plants  would  be  bought  to  be  put  into 
the  garth,  or  garden,  beside  the  church.  Around  this  new 
cloisters,  with  twisted  marble  columns,  would  be  built. 
These  were  covered  walks  where  the  monks  would  stroll 
or  sit  reading  or  teach  their  classes  of  boys. 

Imagine  yourself  wandering  through  the  monastery 
of  St.  Gall  in  Switzerland.  If  it  was  really  like  the 
wonderful  old  map  that  is  still  preserved,  you 
would  have  needed  a  day  to  visit  it.  It  was 
almost  a  village,  with  more  than  thirty  buildings.  Such 
a  great  monastery  was  factory,  farm,  school,  library, 
and  church  all  combined.  There  were  hundreds  like 
it,  greater  or  smaller,  throughout  Europe,  and  they  did 
much  during  hundreds  of  years  to  civilize  and  educate 
the  people. 

Saints  and  Pilgrimages 

Wonderful  stories  are  told  about  the  holiness  of  some 

of  the  Christians  of  the  Middle  Ages,  especially  of  the 

monks.     One  of  them  used  often  to  stay  on 

oy  his  knees  all  night  praying  and  weeping  over 

the    sufferings    of    Christ.     According    to    old 

stories  many  holy  men  and  women  had  visions  of  angels 

or  of  Christ  or  of  the  Virgin  Mary.     Some  holy  men,  the 

old  books  say,  were  able  by  their  holiness  to  perform 

miracles,  to  cure  sickness  by  touching  the  ill  person  with 

their  hands,  to  heal  a  wound  by  a  kiss,  to  put  out  a  fire 

by  prayer,  to  tame  wild  beasts  by  speaking  to  them,  and 

to  raise  the  dead  to  life. 

A  beautiful  story  is  told  of  Francis,  a  saintly  man  of 

.     Italy.     One  day  as  he  was  going  along  a  road, 

"he  lifted  up  his  eyes  and  beheld  some  trees 

hard  by  the  road  whereon  sat  a  great  company  of  birds 


RELIGION  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES  317 

well-nigh  without  number;  whereat  Saint  Francis  mar- 
veled, and  said  to  his  companions :  '  Ye  shall  wait  for  me 
here  upon  the  way  and  I  will  go  to  preach  unto  my  little 
sisters,  the  birds.'  And  he  went  unto  the  field  and  began 
to  preach  unto  the  birds  that  were  on  the  ground :  and 
immediately  those  that  were  on  the  trees  flew  down  to 
him." 

When  Saint  Francis  preached  to  them,  "  those  birds 
began  all  of  them  to  open  their  beaks,  and  stretch  their 
necks,  and  spread  their  wings,  and  reverently  bend  their 
heads  down  to  the  ground,  and  by  their  acts  and  by  their 
songs  to  show  that  the  holy  father  gave  them  joy  exceed- 
ing great.  ...  At  the  last,  having  ended  the  preaching, 
Saint  Francis  made  over  them  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and 
gave  them  leave  to  go  away;  and  thereby  all  the  birds 
with  wondrous  singing  rose  up  in  the  air"  and  flew  away 
in  the  shape  of  the  cross  that  Saint  Francis  had  made  over 
them. 

While  a  holy  man  of  this  sort  was  alive,  people  almost 
adored  him.  They  came  from  great  distances  to  see  him. 
They  begged  one  of  his  shoes,  his  girdle,  a  piece  of  his  robe, 
as  a  precious  keepsake.  There  was  a  power  in  these 
things,  they  thought,  to  work  miracles.  When  a  holy 
man  with  such  power  as  this  died,  people  did  not  cease 
to  love  him.  They  talked  of  his  deeds.  They  sent  to 
the  pope  the  story  of  his  holy  life  and  of  the  miracles  he 
had  done.  Then  the  pope,  after  he  had  examined  into 
his  life  and  found  it  miraculous,  declared  him  a  saint 
and  commanded  all  Christians  to  honor  him. 

Hundreds  of  holy  men  and  women  were  made  saints 
and  were  revered  in  this  way.  Benedict  was  one ;  Boni- 
face was  another ;  and  Francis,  and  King  Louis ;  and 
many  of  the  martyrs  who  had  died  for  their  religion  in  the 
Roman  times ;  and  all  the  apostles  of  Christ.     Then  the 


318  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

people,  thinking  of  these  saints  in  heaven  and  believing 
that  they  looked  down  upon  the  world  and  loved  it, 
prayed  to  them  and  asked  them  to  intercede  with  God  for 
their  sakes. 

Even  the  dead  body  of  such  a  man  was  "more  valuable 

than  precious  stones  and  finer  than  refined  gold."     An 

old  writer  says,  "Even  though  the  soul  is  not 

Shrines  .  .. 

present,  a  virtue  resides  in  the  body  of  the 
saints  because  of  the  righteous  soul  which  has  for  so 
many  years  tenanted  and  used  it."  So  people  made  a 
rich  tomb  all  carved  and  even  encrusted  with  gold,  and 
they  took  up  the  body  and  placed  it  in  that  tomb.  They 
built  a  church  around  it,  and  perhaps  put  an  altar  over 
the  body  or  before  it,  and  kept  candles  always  burning 
there.  And  those  bodies  which  before  death  had  been 
able  to  perform  miracles  were  still  able,  people  thought, 
to  do  so  after  death.  By  touching  the  tomb  or  the  chest 
that  contained  the  bones  or  even  by  merely  seeing  the 
holy  relics,  people  were  cured  of  sorrow,  sickness,  and 
madness. 

Therefore    men    were    eager    to    visit    these    shrines, 
taking  their  sorrows,  their  sins,  and  their  sickness  to  be 

cured.     Besides,  the  pope  counted  it  a  virtue 

for  a  man  to  visit  such  holy  places.  He  some- 
ages  ,  .  .  . 

times   promised   forgiveness   of   sins   to   those 

who  with   contrite  hearts  performed  the  journey,   and 

priests  often  commanded  some  great  sinner  to  make  such 

a   pilgrimage   to   this   or   that   shrine,   perhaps  walking 

barefoot  all  the  way,  perhaps  going  on  his  knees  for  the 

last  part  of  the  journey. 

Travel  was  difficult  and  slow,  but  special  privileges 

were  given  to  pilgrims.     They  were  allowed  to  travel  the 

roads   without   paying   toll    as    other   travelers   had    to 

do.     They   went   under   the   special    protection    of   the 


RELIGION  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 


319 


Hi 


A  Tomb 

The  body  is  placed  in  the  wall  of  the  church  behind  the  tombstone.     Tnere  are 
scores  of  such  tombs  in  many  old  churches.     See  cut  on  page  150 


church.  Along  the  roads  where  they  journeyed  were 
houses  for  their  needs,  built  by  religious  men  and  women. 
Many  gilds  opened  their  houses  to  them,  and  all  the 
monasteries,   of  course,  were  eager  to  receive  them  in 


320 


THE  NEWER  NATIONS 


Christ's  name.  Moreover,  most  people  were  glad  to 
entertain  pilgrims  in  their  homes,  for  the  travelers  brought 
news  of  strange  lands ;  and,  besides,  doing  a  kindness  to 
pilgrims  seemed  like  doing  it  to  Christ  or  to  the  saint 
whose  shrine  they  were  going  to  visit. 

Pilgrims,  therefore/ made  themselves  known  by  wear- 
ing a  certain  costume  —  perhaps  a  long  cape  with  a  hood 

and  a  great  hat  looped  up  in 
front.  They  carried  a  staff  in 
the  hand  and  a  little  wallet  at 
the  belt  for  the  money  and  food 
kind  people  gave  them.  So  by 
the  help  of  charity  even  poor 
people  could  make  these  pil- 
grimages, and  the  great  shrines 
were  visited  by  thousands  from 
all  corners  of  Europe. 

In  one  year  more  than  two 
thousand  pilgrims  from  England 
alone  visited  Compostella  in 
Spain.  Many  of  these  had 
traveled  through  France  on  foot, 
begging  for  bed  and  bread  as  they  went.  Some  did  this 
from  need,  but  others  because  they  thought  by  this  pov- 
erty and  humility  to  please  God.  So  people  of  fame  and 
wealth  sometimes  walked  and  begged  in  the  pilgrim  cos- 
tume. *  Thus  did  Saint  Louis,  even  though  king  of  France. 
But  others  rode  on  horses  or  went  by  ship  as  far  as  they 
could  and  spent  their  money  as  they  went,  staying  at  inns 
when  there  were  any,  buying  at  the  markets,  and  giving 
alms  to  the  poor  pilgrims.  So  where  the  great  shrines 
were  and  the  great  crowds  of  pilgrims,  there  came  to  be 
great  fairs  and  prosperous  cities.  Business  hung  to  the 
skirts  of  religion. 


A  Pilgrim 


RELIGION  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES  32 1 


A  Great  Noble  Goes  on  a  Pilgrimage 

The  ship  is  too  large  to  come  to  shore.     It  anchors  and  sends  its  boat.     Notice 
the  two  masts,  crow's  nest,  roofed  cabin,  and  embroidered  or  painted  sails 

But  of  all  the  holy  places  of  the  world,  the  most  holy, 
of  course,  was   Jerusalem,  where   Christ  had  piigrim- 
lived  and  died.     Men  longed  to  see  the  Jordan  ages  to 
river,  where  he  had  been  baptized,  the  garden  Jerusalem 
of  Gethsemane  where  he  had  suffered,  the  mount  where 


322  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

he  had  been  crucified,  the  tomb  where  his  body  had  been 
placed  and  from  which  he  had  risen  to  be  their  Savior. 
Even  people  who  were  not  very  religious  were  eager  to 
go  to  Palestine.  Priests  thought  it  was  a  holy  deed  to 
make  the  long  journey.  So  they  promised  forgiveness 
of  sins  to  those  who  went. 

For  the  men  of  western  Europe  it  was  a  journey  of 
two  or  three  thousand  miles,  and  many  months  were 
needed  to  make  it.  But  even  so,  people  went  by  hundreds. 
Merchants  left  their  business,  knights  left  their  castles, 
and  women  their  children,  to  seek  Palestine.  Some  of 
them  went  by  land  through  Hungary  to  Constantinople, 
across  the  straits  and  down  to  the  holy  city.  Others 
went  in  one  way  or  another  to  some  seaport  of  Italy  — 
Venice,  Genoa,  Brindisi,  Pisa.  There  they  took  ship  and 
were  carried  along  the  Mediterranean  to  Jaffa  or  to  Acre. 

Even  in  this  easy  way  they  had  to  spend  a  long  time. 
Saewulf,  a  merchant  of  England,  who  made  the  pilgrim- 
age in  1100,  says  that  he  was  thirteen  weeks  voyaging 
from  Italy  to  Jaffa.  And  then  the  journey  was  not  at 
an  end.  "We  went  up  from  Jaffa,"  he  says,  "to  the 
city  of  Jerusalem,  a  journey  of  two  days,  by  a  mountain- 
ous road,  very  rough  and  dangerous  on  account  of  the 
Saracens,  who  lie  in  wait  in  the  caves  of  the  mountains 
to  surprise  the  Christians." 

Mohammedanism,  the  New  Religion  in  Asia 

Who  were  these  Saracens  who  robbed  the  Christian 
pilgrims?  The  answer  to  this  is  a  long  story.  Chris- 
Moham-  tianity  had  begun  in  Palestine,  a  little  land  of 
med  and  Asia.  Six  hundred  years  after  the  birth  of 
His  Re-  Christ  another  great  religion  was  born,  and 
this  also  in  Asia.  Arabia  was  a  country  of  dry 
deserts  and  rich  oases  and  fertile  coast  lands,  a  country 


RELIGION  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES  323 

of  camels  and  perfumes  and  jewels  and  gold  mines.  It 
was  in  this  land  that  the  new  religion  began,  and  Moham- 
med, an  Arab,  was  the  father  of  it.  He  had  visions,  he 
said,  in  which  an  angel  appeared  to  him  carrying  silken 
scrolls  written  over  with  messages  from  God.  These 
messages  Mohammed  at  the  angel's  command  read  aloud 
and  remembered.  Then  he  recited  them  to  his  family 
and  his  neighbors  and  preached  on  the  meaning  of  them. 
At  first  few  people  would  listen.  Indeed,  Mohammed 
and  his  handful  of  followers  were  driven  out  of  his  own 
city  of  Mecca.  But  another  town,  Medina,  received 
them,  and  many  of  its  people  were  converted. 
From  that  time  the  new  religion  spread 
rapidly,  so  that  before  its  prophet  died,  most  of  Arabia 
was  Mohammedan. 

One  reason  for  its  rapid  growth  was  that  Mohammed 
had  noble  things  to  say.  He  saw  men  worshiping  idols 
and  believing  in  many  gods.  Against  such  beliefs  he 
cried,  "Your  God  is  one  God.  There  is  no  God  but  Him 
the  most  merciful. "  Moreover,  this  God  whom  Mo- 
hammed preached  was  a  God  of  love.  "By  the  bright- 
ness of  the  morning ;  and  by  the  night,  when  it  groweth 
dark :  thy  Lord  hath  not  forsaken  thee,  neither  doth  He 
hate  thee.  Verily  the  life  to  come  shall  be  better  for  thee 
than  this  present  life :  and  thy  Lord  shall  give  thee  a 
reward  wherewith  thou  shalt  be  well  pleased.  Did  He 
not  find  thee  an  orphan,  and  hath  He  not  taken  care  of 
thee  ?  And  did  He  not  find  thee  wandering  in  error  and 
hath  He  not  guided  thee  into  the  truth  ?  And  did  He  not 
find  thee  needy,  and  hath  He  not  enriched  thee  ?  Where- 
fore oppress  not  the  orphan,  neither  repulse  the  beggar : 
but  declare  the  goodness  of  the  Lord." 

People  who  accepted  the  new  religion  were  to  live  good 
lives.     "Whatsoever  good  ye  do,  God  knoweth  it,"  says 


324  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

the  Koran,  the  holy  book  of  the  Mohammedans,  made  up 
of  the  messages  that  the  angel  delivered  to  Mohammed. 
In  another  place  it  says,  "A  fair  speech  and  to  forgive 
is  better  than  alms  followed  by  mischief. "  "Deal  not 
unjustly  with  others,  and  ye  shall  not  be  dealt  with 
unjustly." 

But  Mohammed  did  not  preach  peace  as  Christ  had 
done,  but  rather  he  preached  war  against  the  infidels, 
for  so  he  called  all  people  not  Mohammedans.  He 
wanted  to  convert  all  the  world  to  his  religion,  just  as 
the  Christians  wanted  to  do.  But  his  way  was  to  send 
out,  not  peaceful  missionaries  to  teach  and  to  preach,  but 
armies  to  slay  and  conquer  and  frighten  men  into  becom- 
ing Mohammedans.  He  said:  "The  sword  is  the  key 
of  heaven  and  of  hell ;  a  drop  of  blood  shed  in  the  cause  of 
God,  a  night  spent  in  arms,  is  of  more  avail  than  two 
months  of  fasting  or  prayer.  Whosoever  falls  in  battle, 
his  sins  are  forgiven ;  at  the  day  of  judgment  his  wounds 
shall  be  resplendent  as  vermilion,  and  odoriferous  as 
musk ;  and  the  loss  of  his  limbs  shall  be  supplied  by  the 
wings  of  angels  and  cherubim." 

The  heaven  to  which  the  faithful  will  go,  is  thus  de- 
scribed in  the  Koran:  "They  shall  dwell  in  gardens  of 
delight,  .  .  .  reposing  on  couches  adorned  with  gold  and 
precious  stones,  sitting  opposite  to  one  another  thereon. 
Youths  which  shall  continue  in  their  bloom  forever, 
shall  go  round  about  to  attend  them,  with  goblets  and 
beakers  and  a  cup  of  flowing  wine.  .  .  .  And  there  shall 
accompany  them  fair  damsels  having  large  black  eyes.  .  .  . 
And  [they]  shall  have  their  abode  among  lote  trees  free 
from  thorns  .  .  .  under  an  extended  shade,  near  a  flowing 
water  and  amidst  fruits  in  abundance,  which  shall  not 
fail  nor  shall  be  forbidden  to  be  gathered,  and  they  shall 
repose  themselves  on  lofty  beds." 


RELIGION  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES  325 

With  such  a  promise  as  that,  is  it  any  wonder  that 
Mohammed's    followers    were    eager    to    fight  TheMo- 
and   that   they   fought   against   any   odds   as  hamme- 
though  their  lives  were  worthless?     The  Arabs  ^l^°n" 
were  a  warlike  race  and  loved  fighting  for  its  Great 
own  sake.      So  now  they  set  out  to   conquer  Empire 
and  convert  the  world. 

Their  neighbors  to  the  north  belonged  to  what  was 
left  of  the  Roman  empire.  In  the  West  the  empire  was 
gone,  and  the  Germans  were  growing  up  on  its  old  land. 
But  in  the  East  the  throne  of  Constantine  yet  stood.  He 
had  moved  the  capital  of  the  empire  from  Rome  and  had 
built  a  splendid  city  at  the  old  Greek  town  of  Byzantium, 
calling  it,  after  himself,  Constantinople.1  In  Mohammedan 
times  this  Constantinople  was  still  rich  and  beautiful  — 
her  harbor  full  of  ships,  her  streets  busy  with  traders,  her 
court  gay  with  fine  lords  and  ladies,  her  libraries  filled 
with  learned  books  and  learned  men,  her  generals  in 
command  of  great  armies.  She  still  owned  Greece  and 
the  country  north  of  it,  almost  to  the  Danube,  and, 
besides  that,  Asia  Minor  and  Palestine  and  Egypt*  and 
some  of  the  northern  shore  of  Africa.  In  fact  the  eastern 
Mediterranean  and  its  lands  were  hers.2  So  when  the 
Arabs  began  to  press  outward,  they  soon  met  the  armies 
of  this  eastern  Christian  empire. 

But  those  Mohammedans  were  a  new  kind  of  fighters. 
They  were  burning  with  enthusiasm.  They  were  lean 
and  wiry  and  quick  as  lizards.  They  were  afraid  of  noth- 
ing and  never  dreamed  of  giving  up.  They  fought  on 
'  horseback  and  could  wheel  their  flying  steeds  as  quickly 
as  a  man  could  turn.  They  rode  into  battle  on  the  run, 
shouting  shrilly  their  war-cry,  "God  is  God,  and  Mo- 
hammed is  his  prophet." 

1  See  page  HS-  2  See  map  on  page  149, 


326  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

Before  this  rush  of  enthusiasm  and  courage  the  East- 
ern empire  was  not  able  to  hold  its  outlying  provinces. 
Twelve  years  after  Mohammed's  death  his  followers 
possessed  not  only  their  own  Arabia,  but  Persia,  Syria, 
Palestine,  and  Egypt.  Inside  of  seventy  years  they  had 
all  northern  Africa  and  were  looking  across  the  Strait  of 
Gibraltar  at  Spain.  So  far  their  conquests  had  been  in 
Asia  and  Africa.  It  would  be  more  serious  if  an  Asiatic 
people  and  an  Asiatic  religion  should  step  into  Europe. 
Yet  so  it  happened.  In  711  the  Saracens,  as  Europeans 
called  them,  crossed  over. 

The  Spaniards  whom  they  met  were  descendants  of 
those  Goths  who  had  followed  Adolf  over  into  Spain  after 
Alaric's  death.1  They  had  become  enthusiastic  Chris- 
tians. The  nobles  were  rich,  owning  thousands  of  acres 
of  land  and  hundreds  of  slaves.  They  were  disloyal  to 
their  king  and  disunited  among  themselves.  They  had 
lost  the  strength  and  courage  of  their  ancestors.  Twelve 
thousand  Saracens  from  Africa,  under  a  brave  leader, 
Tarik,  met  a  Spanish  army  four  or  five  times  as  large  and 
conquered  it.  The  Gothic  hosts  —  killed,  captured,  and 
fleeing  —  melted  away.  One  city  after  another  opened 
its  gates  to  the  Saracen  leaders,  so  that  within  two  or 
three  years  after  Tarik's  landing,  almost  all  of  Spain 
belonged  to  the  strangers. 

So  here  were  the  Saracens  with  an  empire  more  than 
five  thousand  miles  long,  stretching  from  India  to  the 
most  western  tip  of  Europe.  And  no  man  could  tell 
where  Mohammedan  rule  would  stop.  Its  warriors  were 
brave  and  active,  its  cities  were  growing  richer,  its  people 
prouder.  Now,  all  this  had  happened  before  any  great 
nations  had  grown  up  in  Europe.  The  European  people 
were  so  busy  with  their  own  affairs,  they  traveled  so 

1  See  page  148. 


RELIGION  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 


327 


little  and  were  so  ignorant  of  anything  beyond  their  own 
eyesight,  that  they  hardly  knew  of  this  great  Moham- 
medan empire  in  the  East  and  South  that  had  grown  so 
magically  and  that  threatened  to  keep  on  growing. 


A  Vista  in  a  Saracen  Palace 
The  Alhambra  in  Spain 

Meanwhile  the  Saracen  people  had  prospered  in  body 
and    soul.     The    upper    class,    men    and    women    alike, 
dressed  in  gorgeous  silk  robes  that  hung  from 
neck  to  toe,  and  they  wore  bracelets  and  neck-  Mo^am- 
laces  of  gold,  set  with  bright  gems.     The  palaces  Life 
of  the  wealthy  were  great  rambling  buildings 
with  flat  roofs  and  tall,  slender  towers.     The  open  courts 
were  planted  with  palms  and  orange  trees  and  brilliant 
flowers  and  were  cooled  with  spraying  fountains  or  with 
still  pools  of  water.     Upon  those  airy  courts  opened  rich 


328  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

rooms  with  delicate  columns  and  arches  covered  with 
colored  plaster  all  traced  over  with  finely  woven  lines 
in  lovely  patterns.  There  were  soft,  glowing  carpets  on 
the  floors  of  mosaic  marble,  there  were  deep  cushions  for 
lounging,  and  fountains  of  perfume  playing  to  scent  the 
air. 

With  all  these  riches  went  learning  also.  Arabia  and 
Moorish  Spain  were  much  more  civilized  and  learned 
than  were  the  England  of  King  John  or  the 
Moham-  France  of  Saint  Louis  or  the  Germany  of 
Learning  Frederick  II,  five  hundred  years  later.  In- 
deed, it  was  from  the  Moors  of  Spain  and  of 
Sicily  that  Frederick  II  got  much  of  that  great  learning 
which  made  him  the  wonder  of  the  world.1  The  large 
Saracen  cities  had  libraries,  observatories,  hospitals.  The 
Spanish  Moors  had  universities  long  before  the  rest  of 
Europe,  and  men  who  were  eager  to  become  really  trained  in 
medicine  or  astronomy  or  mathematics  or  chemistry  went, 
not  to  some  Christian  city  to  study,  but  down  into  Spain, 
to  Mohammedan  Toledo,  Cordova,  Seville,  or  Granada. 

Even  to-day  we  use  Arabic  words  for  ideas,  inventions, 
and  products  which  our  ancestors  learned  from  the 
Arabs  —  algebra,  alcohol,  almanac,  damask,  muslin, 
sugar,  cotton.  The  first  of  these  words  shows  the  Arabs  as 
great  mathematicians  ;  the  second  proves  them  chemists ; 
the  third,  astronomers ;  the  fourth  and  fifth,  fine  weavers ; 
the  last  two,  good  farmers.  It  was  the  Moors  who 
brought  into  Spain,  and  so  into  all  Europe,  certain  prod- 
ucts of  their  warmer  climates  that  seem  now  like  our 
own  —  rice,  sugar  cane,  cotton,  apricots,  peaches,  yellow 
roses,  tulips. 

These  Saracens  were  traders  and  merchants,  too.  They 
traded  "by  vessels  or  caravans  with  China,  from  which 

1  See  page  169. 


RELIGION   IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES  329 

they  obtained  silk,  tea,  lac,  and  china;  with  Calcutta 
and  Sumatra,  whence  they  brought  spices,  drugs,  pearls, 
and  precious  stones ;  with  [the  remoter  parts  of]  Africa, 
which  supplied  them  with  slaves,  ivory,  and  gold  dust; 
with  the  country  at  the  north  of  the  Black  Sea,  which 
furnished  furs  and  amber." 

The  Crusades 

It  was  such  people  as  these  who  had  won  holy  Jeru- 
salem from  the  Christians  and  had  taken  several  provinces 
away  from  the  Eastern  empire.  Religious  men  of  western 
Europe  regretted  most  the  fact  that  " infidels"  should 
hold  the  city  of  Christ  and  collect  a  tax  from  pilgrims  at 
its  gates.  Merchants  regretted,  also,  that  the  Saracens 
had  possession  of  the  great  ports  where  the  Christian  ships 
went  to  trade  for  the  wonderful  goods  of  the  East.  Chris- 
tian knights  heard  tales  of  the  bravery  and  courtesy  and 
skill  of  the  gentlemen  warriors  of  Arabia  and  longed  to 
measure  swords  with  them. 

The  emperor  at  Constantinople  and  the  other  rulers  of 
Europe  began  to  fear  lest  the  Mohammedans  should 
cross  the  narrow  straits  between  Asia  and  Europe  or  pass 
over  the  mountains  that  cut  off  Spain  from  France  and 
conquer  all  Europe  and  crush  out  Christianity.  Soon 
the  emperor  at  Constantinople  saw  the  Turks,  a  new 
Mohammedan  tribe,  more  fierce  and  less  cultured  than 
the  Arabs,  capturing  his  lands  and  facing  him  across  the 
straits.  Then  in  1095  he  called  to  the  pope  at  Rome 
to  help  him  in  keeping  the  " infidels"  out  of  Europe.  The 
pope's  answer  was  to  preach  a  fiery  sermon  at  a  council 
of  churchmen  and  nobles,  urging  them  to  rescue  the  holy 
sepulcher  from  the  " infidels." 

After  this  burning  sermon  the  people  shouted,  "It  is 
the  will  of  God!"    and  begged  for  the  privilege  to  go. 


330  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 


Crosses  were  quickly  cut  from  red  cloth,  men  sewed  them 

to  their  cloaks  as  a  sign  that  they  had  entered 
c 
Crusade 


upon  a  holy  war  —  a  war  of   the  cross.     The 


pope  gave  his  blessing  and  a  promise  of  sins 
forgiven,  and  a  few  months  later  a  great  army  started 
out  across  eastern  Europe  toward  Jerusalem. 

Terrible  sufferings  and  danger  beset  it.  Many  died  or 
were  captured  and  sold  into  slavery  or  became  ill  from 
hunger  and  weariness  and  had  to  drop  behind.  Yet  at 
last  many  of  the  knights  and  foot-soldiers  —  perhaps  a 
hundred  thousand  of  them  —  did  arrive  in  Asia.  There 
were  fierce  battles  with  the  Mohammedans  and  long  sieges 
of  Mohammedan  cities,  deaths  from  honorable  wounds 
received  in  fights  and  less  glorious  deaths  from  starvation 
and  sickness  brought  on  by  the  strange  climate. 

After  many  trials,  however,  at  last  the  Christian  army, 

in  1099,  did  rescue  Jerusalem  from  the  Mohammedans. 

Moreover,  it  conquered  a  narrow  strip  for  500 

apture  o     jjjjjgg  ai0ng  the  coast  of  Palestine  and  Syria 
Jerusalem  ,,..,,..  r 

and  divided  it  into  four  states,  with  one  or  an- 
other of  the  crusaders  for  ruler,  and  the  Christian  knights 
for  garrisons.  For  about  eighty  years  there  were  Chris- 
tian " kings  of  Jerusalem"  ruling  the  land  that  King  David 
had  once  ruled.  Here,  on  the  edge  of  a  strange  world, 
these  knights  of  western  Europe  lived  their  lives  much  as 
they  had  lived  them  at  home  —  building  castles,  holding 
tournaments,  quarreling  among  themselves,  fighting  their 
enemies,  ruling  their  vassals,  training  their  squires  to 
become  knights,  listening  to  troubadour  songs.  Many 
pilgrims  came  and  went,  —  common  people  and  princes. 
Yet,  in  spite  of  courage  and  strength,  a  little  gar- 
rison of  foreigners  could  not  hold  this  strip  of  Holy 
Land  from  the  warlike  hosts  that  were  seething  about 
it.     The  kingdom  was  lost  and  won  and  lost  again.     There 


RELIGION  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 


331 


was  almost  constant  war.  During  two  hundred  years  six 
European  kings  and  scores  of  great  dukes  led  crusading 
armies  to  the  East  to  try  to  hold  the  land  or  regain 
it  for  the  Christians :  yet  the  crusades  were  unsuccess- 
ful.    They  did  not  permanently  rescue  the  sepulcher  of 


Jerusalem 
Much  like  any  European  city  except  that  the  temple  is  at  the  heart  of  it 

Christ ;  they  did  not  push  the  Mohammedans  back  and 
keep   them   out   of   Europe.     Before   the   two 
hundred    years    were    quite    passed    the    little  Jhe  Mo" 
Christian  kingdoms  in  Palestine  and  Syria  had  victory 
vanished,  and  the  Mohammedans  had  won  back 
every  foot  of  land.      Then   came   the   turn   of   eastern 
Europe.     The  Turks  crossed  over  from  Asia  Minor  and 
at  last,  in  1453,  captured  Constantinople  and  thus  put  an 
end  to  the  Roman  empire  of  the  East.     Old  Christian 


332  THE  NEWER  NATIONS 

Constantinople  is  to-day  the  capital  of  Mohammedan 
Turkey. 

In  another  way,  however,  the  crusades  accomplished 
much.  The  knights  of  Europe  found  Mohammedan 
cavaliers  quite  as  religious  and  as  courteous  and 
Results  as  brave  as  themselves.  And  they  found  cities 
Crusades  cleaner  and  pleasanter  than  their  own,  with 
paved  streets  and  flowing  water.  They  saw 
houses  filled  with  beautiful  rugs  and  cushions,  and  sweet 
with  perfume  and  sparkling  fountains  and  furnished  with 
baths.  They  saw  strange  plants  and  animals  and  new 
kinds  of  agriculture;  they  saw  richness  of  clothing  arftl 
jewelry  that  they  had  only  dreamed  of. 

Hundreds  of  thousands  of  common  men  took  the  cross, 
followed  the  princes  and  nobles  upon  these  holy  wars, 
and  saw  the  wonderful  life  of  the  East.  Some  of  them 
went  back  home  again,  carrying  curios  with  them,  and 
telling  marvelous  tales  about  their  travels.  Every 
minstrel  in  Europe  tuned  his  lyre  and  sang  the  glorious 
tale  of  this  or  that  crusader.  In  these  ways  men  became 
acquainted  with  a  different  world,  with  different  ways  of 
building,  of  eating,  of  dressing,  of  talking,  of  worshiping, 
of  thinking,  and  their  minds  had  to  grow  to  fit  this  new 
knowledge. 

Moreover,  merchants  and  crusaders  went  hand  in  hand, 
and  though  the  crusaders  returned  home,  the  merchants 
remained  and  shipped  new  goods  from  the  East  back  to 
Europe.  Beside  the  religious  pilgrimages  grew  up  a 
habit  of  travel,  a  curiosity  to  see  the  world,  a  desire  to 
know  new  peoples.  All  that  great  traveling  across  land 
and  sea  and  that  exchanging  of  goods  between  Asia  and 
Europe,  all  that  commerce  of  the  Hanse  towns  and  the 
cities  of  Italy  which  is  told  of  in  the  chapter  before  this, 
was  growing  up  during  the  time  of  the  crusades.     While 


RELIGION  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES  333 

King  Richard  of  England  was  fighting  the  " infidels' ' 
before  Jerusalem,  the  Venetian  merchants  were  living  at 
Acre,  near  by,  and  were  trading  in  friendly  way  with 
Mohammedan  caravans.  And  that  commerce,  that  love 
of  travel,  that  exploring  spirit,  lived  on  after  the  crusades 
had  died  out. 


1.  Read  "  Friar  Jerome's  Beautiful  Book,"  a  poem  by  T.  B.  Aldrich, 
the  story  of  the  making  of  an  old  manuscript  book.  Draw  some  of 
the  designs  and  letters  that  you  think  Friar  Jerome  made.  2.  Choose 
some  beautiful  poem  or  inspiring  sentence  and  print  it,  using  a  brush 
and  India  ink  on  parchment  paper.  Make  the  initial  letters  bright  and 
lovely.  It  will  be  a  good  Christmas  card.  3.  For  a  few  days  keep  a 
chronicle  of  interesting  things  that  happen  in  classes  or  on  the  play- 
ground. What  could  people  of  2400  a.d.  learn  about  the  life  of  our 
day  from  reading  your  chronicle  ?  4.  What  monks  came  to  America 
in  the  early  days  as  missionaries?  Did  they  do  anything  besides 
preach  ?  5.  Find  out  about  the  Trappist  monks  in  America  to-day. 
6.  What  are  the  California  missions,  and  who  built  them?  7.  Moham- 
medans date  events  from  the  year  when  Mohammed  fled  from  Mecca, 
and  they  call  the  flight  the  Hejira.  That  was  in  622  a.d.  They 
would  say  that  Charlemagne  was  crowned  178  years  after  the  Hejira. 
What  number  do  they  give  the  present  year  ?  8.  What  peoples  to-day 
are  Mohammedans? 


PART   III 
BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 

CHAPTER  XIII 
GREAT  CHANGES 

Our  modern  world  is  very  different  from  the  medieval 
world.  In  those  earlier  times  the  great  lived  in  stone 
castles,  and  the  poor  were  bound  to  the  soil.  Only  a  few 
men  owned  land,  and  most  men  served  some  other  with 
plow  or  sword  in  payment  for  the  use  of  a  piece  of  ground. 
Then  books  were  rare,  and  the  few  who  could  read  them 
were  churchmen.  Practically  all  the  people  of  western 
Europe  were  members  of  one  church  and  were  obedient 
to  priest  and  pope. 

Yet  things  never  stand  still,  and  before  the  year  1600 
many  great  changes  had  come  about.  The  invention  of 
gunpowder  had  changed  the  style  of  buildings  for  the 
great :  smiling  palaces  were  taking  the  place  of  grim 
castles.1  Professional  soldiers  with  strange  firearms  had 
taken  the  place  of  steel-clad  knights.  Most  of  the  serfs 
were  free  :  they  had  bought  their  freedom  or  had  snatched 
it  by  running  away  from  their  lords.2  The  manors  had 
begun  to  change :  many  free  workers  had  come  to  rent 
or  own  little  farms. 

National  States 

In  many  of  the  countries  of  western  Europe  the  kings 
had  humbled  their  great  nobles,  as  Saint  Louis  had  done.3 

1  See  pages  247-248.  2  See  pages  258  and  263.  8  See  pages  176-178. 

334 


GREAT  CHANGES 


335 


In  the  early  Middle  Ages  men  had  thought  of  themselves 
not   so    much  as    Englishmen  or    Frenchmen,    but    as 
vassals  of  this  count  or  that  duke.      As  the  The 
king's  power  increased,  however,  men  came  to   Growth  of 
think  less  about  whose  vassals  they  were,  and  Kingly 
more  and  more  of  the  monarch  who  was  strong     ower 
enough  to  protect  life  and  property.     The  kings  gained 
authority  over  the  towns,  often  by  helping  them  against 
the  greed  of  their  lords. 
As  the  king  grew  stronger 
the  great  nobles  were  less 
and  less  able  to  defy  him. 
Often,    too,    the    king's 
need    of    money    or    of 
support  against  the  lords 
led  him  to  ask  the  aid  of 
the  richer  common  men. 
Then  parliaments  began 
at  last  to  grow,  —  great 
assemblies  where  the  king 
presided  and  where  men 
from   all   corners  of   his 
realm    met     to    discuss 
affairs  and  to  make  laws.1 
Then  all  men's  eyes  and 
hearts    began    to     turn 
toward  a  common  center, 
and  in  France,  England, 
Spain,  and  Portugal  men 
began  to  say:    "We  are  Frenchmen,"  "We  are  English- 
men," "We  are  Spaniards,"  "We  are  Portuguese." 

The  king  of  such  a  country,  when  he  was  a  wise  king, 
felt  that  the  interest  of  his  subjects  was  his  interest.     If 


Soldier  with  an  Early  Form  of 
Firearm 

Notice  that  he  wears  no  steel  armor 


1  See  pages  186-187. 


336  BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 

his  merchants  were  prosperous,  he  was  prosperous.  There- 
fore he  exerted  himself  to  help  them,  and  being  much 
The  Nation  stronger  than  an  old  feudal  king,  he  could 
Regulates  aid  them  better.  If  Englishmen  needed  per- 
Trade  and  mission  to  trade  in  a  French  port  or  a  Russian 
port,  the  English  king  would  send  an  ambassador 
to  the  king  of  France  or  to  the  czar  of  Russia  to  obtain 
such  a  permission.  Kings  came,  moreover,  to  consider  it 
their  business  to  make  laws  regulating  manufacture  and 
agriculture  and  the  hiring  of  laborers.  They  found  the 
old  gilds  selfish  and  narrow.1  Trade  and  industry,  more- 
over, had  grown  too  broad  for  gilds  and  towns  to  manage. 
Therefore  the  kings  altered  the  old  rules  and  made  new 
national  laws.  Under  Queen  Elizabeth,  England,  for  ex- 
ample, set  the  laborer's  day  at  twelve  hours  in  summer, 
gave  justices  of  the  peace  the  power  to  fix  the  legal  wages, 
and  regulated  contracts  between  employers  and  laborers. 
Gilds  were  now  no  longer  needed  in  the  old  way,  and  they 
broke  up  or  served  merely  to ,  carry  out  national  laws. 
The  national  government  had  an  eye  to  the  welfare  of  the 
laborer,  of  the  farmer,  of  the  merchant. 

How  the  World  Began  to  Read 

Another  great  change  was  in  education.  Common 
men  in  great  numbers  began  to  read.     This  happened  as 

.    .  the  result  of  what  must  at  first  have  seemed  like 

an  unimportant  invention.  Between  the  years 
1445  and  1454  men  in  Holland  and  Germany  were  casting 
individual  letters  in  metal.  By  putting  these  letters 
together  into  words  and  spreading  ink  over  them  and 
pressing  paper  upon  them  they  could  print  a  page.  And 
the  great  point  was  that  when  a  man  had  the  type  set  up 
he  could  in  a  few  minutes  make  many  copies  of  the  matter. 

1  See  page  294. 


GREAT  CHANGES 


337 


Therefore  a  hundred  books  could  be  printed  almost  as 
quickly  as  one  and  almost  as  cheaply. 

You  remember  how  slow  a  task  it  had  been  before  this 
time  for  a  monk  to  copy 
t  a  manuscript,1  and  how 
costly,  therefore,  books 
had  been.  With  the 
movable  types  and  the 
printing  press,  however, 
it  was  made  possible  for 
even  poor  men  to  buy 
books.  By  1490  printing 
presses  were  busy  in 
almost  two  hundred  cities 
in  western  Europe,  from 
Sweden  to  Sicily  and 
from  Constantinople  to 
Portugal.  Common 
people  began  to  learn 
what  the  great  minds  of 
the  past  had  thought  and 
what  the  scholars  of  their 
own  time  were  talking 
about.  Sailors  could  buy  books  of  travel,  students  could 
get  writings  on  astronomy  and  medicine  and  law,  and  many 
people  had  copies  of  the  Bible.     The  world  began  to  read. 

A  Change  in  Religion 

A   great    change    occurred,    too,    in   religion.     Many 
people  began  to  question  whether  the  church  t^ 
was  perfect.     "The  priests  and  the  monks,"  Protestant 
they  said,   "do   not   live  holy   lives.     Many  Revolt 
of  them  are  wicked  men,  greedy  and  pleasure-loving." 

1  See  pages  310-311. 


A  Printing  Office  of  the  Six- 
teenth Century 

In  the  background  men  are  setting  type 

by  hand.     Those  in  front  are  working 

at  the  press 


33* 


BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 


People  had  been  carefully  reading  their  newly  printed 
Bibles,  and  they  began  to  criticise  the  beliefs  and  cere- 
monies of  the  church.  "The  church  does  many  things 
not  taught  in  the  Bible/'  they  said.  "It  is  too  rich, 
too  pompous.  The  ceremonies  of  the  mass  are  wrong. 
Pilgrimages,  too  are  mistaken.  The  priests  encour- 
age men  to  buy 
pardons  to  save 
their  dead  friends 
from  suffering  for 
their  sins.  This, 
too,  is  wrong.  The 
church  needs  re- 
forming." Martin 
Luther  in  Ger- 
many and  John 
Calvin  in  France 
and  Switzerland 
were  the  leaders 
of  this  revolt, 
which  soon  went 
to  the  length  of 
rejecting  alto- 
gether the  author- 
ity of  the  pope. 
If  the  revolt  suc- 
ceeded, the  uni- 
versal sway  of  the  old  medieval  church  would  be  broken. 
But  most  people  remained  loyal  to  the  church,  and  they 
declared  that  some  of  the  charges  were  exaggerated  or 
wholly  untrue,  and  that  the  reformers  did  not  understand 
the  true  meaning  of  the  Bible.  "  And  even  if  there  are 
things  wrong  with  the  church,"  said  the  loyal  Catholics, 
"it  would  be  wicked  and  sinful  to  try  to  destroy  its 


Martin  Luther  as  a  Monk 


GREAT   CHANGES  339 

ancient  unity  and  authority  instead  of  gradually  working 
to  make  things  better/ ■ 

There  were  debates  between  scholars  on  church  ques- 
tions. The  pope  and  the  emperor  held  meetings  to  discuss 
church  matters.  Books,  both  earnest  and  scornful,  were 
written  on  both  sides.  Men  grew  more  and  more  bitter, 
and  wars  arose  out  of  the  trouble.  Most  of  the  people 
of  southern  Europe  remained  faithful  to  the  church : 
Italy,  Spain,  Portugal,  France,  southern  Germany,  con- 
tinued Catholic  and  are  so  to-day.  Most  of  the  people 
of  northern  Europe  left  the  old  church  and  established 
new  ones  with  slightly  changed  ceremonies  and  creeds. 
There  were  the  Lutheran  and  Calvinist  churches  in  north- 
ern Germany,  Holland,  Sweden,  Norway,  and  Denmark ; 
the  Episcopalian,  in  England ;  the  Presbyterian,  in  Scot- 
land.    These  are  still  Protestant  countries. 

But  the  struggle  went  on.  Every  church,  new  or  old, 
was  so  certain  of  being  in  the  right  that  it  had  no  patience 
or  sympathy  with  those  of  another  faith.  Catholic  and 
Protestant  alike  condemned  liberty  of  thought  and  be- 
lief and  cruelly  persecuted  each  other  when  they  could. 
It  was  an  age  of  intolerance. 

To  the  Catholic  church  the  new  creeds  seemed  utterly 
wrong,  and  she  called  them  heresies.     She  fought  them 
with  two  strong  weapons.     One  was  the  Society 
of  Jesus,  an  order  of  priests  somewhat  like  the  **  - 
old  monkish  orders.     By  learning,  by  eloquent  inquisition 
preaching  and  writing,  these  devoted  Catholics 
sought  to  keep   the  world   Catholic.     The  other  great 
weapon  was  the  Inquisition.     This  was  a  body  of  church- 
men whose  business  it  was  to  root  out  heresy.     They  had 
the  right  to  arrest  men,  women,  and  children  who  were 
accused  of  being  heretics.     They  tried  these  prisoners, 
and  if  a  man  was  found  guilty,  he  was  punished,     Per- 


340  BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 

haps  he  was  only  scourged.  Perhaps  he  was  sent  to  the 
galleys,  where  he  sat  chained  to  the  bench  and  helped 
to  row  the  great  ship.  Perhaps  he  was  imprisoned  for 
life.  Perhaps,  even,  he  was  burned  at  the  stake.  During 
the  eighteen  years  of  one  Spanish  judge's  work,  more  than 
two  thousand  people  of  Spain  were  burned  as  heretics. 

But  not  only  did  Catholics  try  to  root  out  heresy, 
they  saw  the  need  of  correcting  things  that  were  wrong 
The  and   of   stating   clearly   the   teachings   of   the 

Catholic  church.  Several  councils  of  bishops  and  great 
Reforma-  churchmen  were  held  to  clear  up  disputed 
points,  to  write  out  fully  the  Catholic  creed,  to 
make  rules  for  the  actions  of  bishops  and  priests  and 
monks.  Seminaries  were  established  for  the  teaching  of 
priests.  The  Jesuits  encouraged  learning  and  good  habits 
among  churchmen.  The  Catholic  church  of  to-day  has 
grown  from  that  reformation  on  the  inside,  and  the 
various  Protestant  churches  are  the  result  of  the  refor- 
mation on  the  outside. 

Thus  by  inventions  and  education,  by  the  changing 
of  manors  and  gilds,  by  the  curbing  of  nobles  and  towns 
and  the  uniting  of  people  under  strong  governments,  by 
the  breaking  up  of  the  powerful  church  and  the  formation 
of  new  creeds,  Europe  was  becoming  different  from  the 
Europe  of  the  Middle  Ages;  it  was  becoming  modern 
Europe. 

1.  Suppose  all  the  printing  presses  were  destroyed  to-night;  what 
difference  would  it  make  in  our  world?  2.  Visit  a  newspaper  printing 
office.  How  is  the  type  set?  Find  out  how  the  early  type  was  set. 
How  is  the  press. run?  Find  out  how  the  early  presses  were  run. 
3.  From  an  almanac  find  out  how  many  religious  sects  there  are  in  the 
United  States.  4.  French  Jesuits  went  as  missionaries  to  Canada.  Find 
out  the  names  of  some  of  them  and  learn  about  their  work.  One  book 
that  will  help  you  is  James  Baldwin's  Discovery  of  the  Old  Northwest. 


A  Map  op  the  World  Made  in  Alexandria1  about  150  a.d. 

CHAPTER  XIV 

SHIPS  IN   STRANGE   SEAS 

Changes  in  religion  and  education  and  government 
were  all  very  important  in  creating  our  modern  world, 
but  a  change  more  full  of  story  and  adventure  and  quite 
as  important  had  to  do  with  men's  knowledge  of  geog- 
raphy. To  the  people  of  Europe  in  1422  the  known 
world  was  not  much  larger  than  it  had  been  to  the  Greeks. 
To  the  Mediterranean  countries  they  had  added  only 
northern  Europe  and  a  vague  knowledge  of  India  and 
China  and  Japan.  In  1522,  a  hundred  years  later,  a 
ship  had  sailed  all  the  way  around  the  world  and  so  had 
demonstrated  that  the  earth  is  a  sphere ;  a  sailing  route 
around  Africa  had  been  discovered ;  and  men  had  found 
the  hitherto  unknown  Americas. 


Early  Sailors  and  Their  Ways 

Sailing  the  sea  is  a  fairly  simple  matter  if  one  keeps 
close  to  shore  and  sails  over  well-known  routes.  The 
pilot  watches  the  color  of  the  water  and  the  breaking  of 


34i 


342    .  BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 

waves  for  hidden  reefs.  He  sights  some  object  on  land 
and  guides  his  course  by  it.  He  judges  his  speed  by  not- 
ing how  long  it  takes  him  to  go  from  this  well-known  cape 
to  that,  familiar  town.  When  a  storm  threatens,  he  makes 
for  a  harbor  that  he  knows.  Such  was  the  sailing  in  the 
Mediterranean  in  the  time  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans, 
and  such  the  sailing  of  the  early  merchants  of  Florence 
and  Venice  and  Genoa. 

During  the  hundreds  of  years  of  voyaging  over  this 
inland  sea,  however,  sailors  invented  some  very  useful 
aids.  Some  man  —  some  Arab  or  Chinaman  perhaps  : 
we  do  not  know  who  he  was,  or  where  he  lived,  or  when 
—  found  that  if  he  rubbed  a  needle  with  a  magnet  and 
floated  it  on  a  straw  in  a  dish  of  water,  it  would  faith- 
fully point  north.  If  a  pilot  was  out  of  sight  of  land  on  a 
cloudy  night,  without  sun  or  moon  or  stars  to  show  him 
direction,  this  little  needle  helped  him  to  keep 

prove-  a  straight  course.  So  it  rapidly  grew  in  im- 
i.  Compass  P0I*tance.  Improvements  were  made  in  it, 
Italian  traders  in  Asia  carried  the  invention 
to  the  West,  and  by  1300  every  Mediterranean  ship  had 
a  compass,  a  neat  little  box  with  its  bottom  marked  off 
with  the  directions,  and  with  a  magnetized  needle  swing- 
ing inside  it. 

But  though  a  compass  might  help  a  pilot  to  steer  a 
straight  course,  it  could  not  tell  him  in  what  direction 
to  go  in  order  to  find  a  port  which  he  had  never  seen. 
Captains,  therefore,  were  glad  to  have  in  their  crews  men 
who  had  sailed  in  different  parts  of  the  Mediterranean, 
that  they  might  serve  as  pilots.  Yet  such  men  were  not 
always  to  be  found.  So  there  grew  up  the  custom  of  writ- 
ing out  sailing  directions  and  selling  them  to  ships'  captains. 

They  might  read  somewhat  like  this,  perhaps  :  "From 
Naples  sail  south,  past  the  burning  island  of  Stromboli, 


SHIPS  IN  STRANGE  SEAS 


343 


2.  Sailing 
Directions 


Sixty-three  leagues *  will  bring  you  to  the  strait  between 
Sicily  and  Italy.  Here  the  ship  is  in  much  danger  from 
the  swift  tide,  which  piles  up  the  water  in  the 
narrow  strait.  After  rounding  the  point  of 
Italy  lay  your  course  eastward  for  one  hundred 
leagues,  until  you  sight  the  Greek  island  of  Zante,  where 
many  grapes 
are  grown. 
From  here 
sail  south- 
ward, keeping 
the  shore  in 
sight  and 
passing  to  the 
left  of  the  is- 
land of  Stri- 
vali,  where 
the  monas- 
tery is.  After 
turning  east 
around  Cape 
Gallo,  hug  the 
shore  in  order 
to  avoid  the 
winds  blow- 
ing from  the 
north.  But  as 
you  approach 
Cape     Malia 

make  a  wide  sweep  to  the  southward ;  for  this  is  a  most 
dangerous  point,  on  account  of  wind  and  hidden  rocks." 

Gradually,  instead  of  writing  such  directions,  men  of 
much  travel  came  to  make  drawings  of  the  coasts  they 

1  The  league  as  here  used  is  the  modern  English  league  of  three  miles. 


A  Sailor's  Map  of  Europe  and  Africa,  Made 
in  1351 

Compare  the  shape  of  Africa  with  that  in  the  map  on 

page  341.     Yet  this  is  probably  only  a  guess.     Notice 

how  much  better  the  Mediterranean  is  drawn  :  this  part 

the  sailors  knew  well 


344  BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 

m 

knew.  At  last  captains  could  buy  charts  showing  the 
shores  of  the  whole  Mediterranean  as  experienced  sailors 
had  seen  them.  Think  what  it  means  for  a  man  to  be 
able  to  make  such  a  map.  No  one  person,  of  course,  had 
sailed  along  all  the  thousands  of  miles  of  the 
Mediterranean  coast  and  explored  all  the  harbors. 
One  had  gone  up  and  down  the  west  shore  of  Italy  until 
he  knew  it  well,  had  measured  its  distances  and  noted 
its  directions.  Another  had  done  the  like  on  the  east 
coast,  another  among  the  Greek  islands,  yet  another  had 
often  run  the  course  from  Sicily  to  Egypt.  Every  one 
of  them,  perhaps,  could  map  his  own  little  piece  of  coast ; 
but  in  order  to  put  all  these  together,  to  know  how  far 
apart  to  draw  the  two  shores  of  Italy,  to  know  whether 
Athens  was  directly  east  of  Rome  or  somewhat  to  the 
south  of  it  —  how  could  any  seaman  know  these  things  ? 

The  maker  of  a  map  that  showed  a  great  stretch  of 
coast,  with  correct  directions  and  distances,  had  to  be 
able  to  find  out,  when  he  stood  in  a  certain  spot,  where 
he  was  in  relation  to  some  other  place,  whether  north, 
south,  east,  or  west,  and  how  far  in  that  direction.  To 
help  them  in  doing  this  the  scientists  of  the  Middle  Ages 
had  invented  an  instrument  called  the  astrolabe.  They 
could  point  it  at  the  north  star  and  at  the  horizon,  and 
thereby  find  out  how  far  above  the  horizon  the  star  was. 
This  told  them  how  far  north  of  the  equator  they  stood. 

In  drawing  their  maps  they  used  the  plan  of  lines  and 
cross  lines  that  the  geographers  of  Alexandria  had  in- 
vented.1 They  imagined  lines  on  the  earth  running  from 
the  north  pole  to  the  south  pole,  and  other  lines  running 
around  the  earth  from  east  to  west  and  cutting  it  into 
spaces  much  as  the  lines  of  longitude  and  latitude  do  on  our 
maps  to-day. 

1  See  pages  48  and  69. 


SHIPS  IN  STRANGE  SEAS 


345 


Besides  having  the  compass  to  direct  them,  maps  to 
guide  them,  and  the  astrolabe  to  show  them  their  loca- 
tion, Mediterranean  sailors  had  improved  their 
ships.  These  were  larger  than  those  of  Greek 
days  and  carried  three  masts  instead  of  one.  Each  sail 
was  divided,  so  that  parts  of  it  could  be  reefed  in  a  heavy 


4.  Ships 


A  Portuguese  Ship 


wind  and  yet  other  parts  remain  spread.  There  were 
jibs  flying  over  the  bow  to  catch  the  wind.  With  all  this 
spread  of  sail,  a  ship  went  very  fast. 

A  German  monk  who  made  a  pilgrimage  to  the  Holy 
Land  in  1480  wrote  a  book  about  his  travels.  In  it  he 
says:  "In  storms,  when  the  wind  is  fair  and  strong,  a 
ship  runs  violently  and  with  uneasy  tossing  on  its  course 


346  BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 

with  exceeding  great  swiftness,  so  fast  that  an  arrow  from 
a  catapult  or  a  bow  cannot  equal  the  pace  of  the  ship.  .  .  . 
The  wind  draws  the  ship  along  by  its  sails  with  such 
force  that  the  sea  water  seems  to  run  to  meet  the  prow, 
and  the  beak  of  the  prow  seems  to  be  plowing  furiously 
*up  against  the  stream  of  a  river  so  that  sometimes  the 
water  rises  above  the  horns  of  the  prow." 

Wanted:   A  New  Route  to  India 

Yet,  in  spite  of  better  ships  and  aids  to  navigation, 
Mediterranean  sailors  had  not  ventured  out  into  the 
Atlantic.  A  few  of  them,  to  be  sure,  skirted  the  coast 
on  a  yearly  trip  to  England  and  Flanders,1  but  most  of 
them  were  content  to  sail  up  and  down  the  familiar  sea. 
There  had  been  little  need  to  go  elsewhere.  Ships  sailed 
in  order  to  carry  goods,  and  the  things  that  people  wanted 
had  been  waiting  for  them  in  the  ports  of  Egypt  and 
Asia  Minor  and  Syria. 

But  something  had  happened  to  change  all  this,  so 
that  the  European  traders  of  the  fifteenth  century  began 
Changes  *°  ^n^  little  in  their  old  markets  at  Constan- 
inthe  tinople,  Smyrna,  and  the  other  cities  of  Asia 

East  Minor.     Western  Asia  had  long  been  disturbed. 

About  1200,  Mongol  tribes  under  great  rulers  and  fighters, 
after  conquering  China,  had  moved  westward,  had  seized 
practically  all  of  Asia,  and  had  pushed  into  Europe,  con- 
quering and  holding  much  of  Russia.  A  little  later  the 
Ottoman  Turks  began  to  move  out  southward  and  east- 
ward from  the  northwest  corner  of  Asia  Minor.  It  was 
through  this  country,  so  often  raided  and  conquered  by 
people  who  were  in  race,  religion,  and  habits  unlike  the 
Europeans,  that  the  caravans  went  from  the  East  to  the 

lSee  page  291. 


SHIPS  IN  STRANGE  SEAS 


347 


West.  Merchants  became  afraid  to  risk  their  goods  in 
this  fierce  war  zone.  Fewer  and  fewer  caravans  came 
from  India  and  China.  Trading  ships  lay  idle,  and  trade 
dwindled.1 

Yet  men  knew  that  far  off,  beyond  that  hostile  Turkish 
land,  lay  rich  China  and  India  and  the  Spice  Islands. 
People  began  to  read  with  more  eager- 
ness than  ever  before  the  old  book  of 
the  travels  of  Marco  Polo. 

This    fortunate    boy   and    his   two 
uncles  had  traveled,  sometimes  on  ship, 
sometimes    on    camel    back,    and    by 
horse,  and  afoot,   from  their  Marco 
own  city  of  Venice,  through  Polo's 
the  well-known   Mediterran-  Travels, 
ean,  through  the  old  lands  of  I27I_I295 
Asia  that   Alexander    had   conquered, 
past   ruins    of    ancient    cities,    across 
deserts,     among     fierce     tribes,     over 
mountain    passes,     down    great    river 
valleys,  to  the  farthest  coast  of  China, 
a  journey  of  more    than    a  thousand  From  the  first  edition 

d^VS  .  of  his  book 

Here  they  had  lived  for  seventeen  years,  in  the  court 
of  the  emperor  Kublai  Khan,  acting  as  his  messengers 
and  advisers.  They  went  with  the  emperor  from  his 
summer  palace  to  his  winter  palace.  They  traveled  into 
far  corners  of  the  country  on  the  emperor's  business. 
They  saw  the  great  land  of  China  from  end  to  end  and 
Chinese  life  from  top  to  bottom.  And  always  Marco's 
eyes  were  open  to  everything  interesting  and  important. 


1  Though  some  trade  still  flowed  through  Syria  and  Egypt,  Damascus  and 
Jaffa  and  Alexandria,  still  it  was  plain  that  these,  too,  must  come  under  the 
yoke  of  the  Turk,  as  indeed  they  did  early  in  the  sixteenth  century. 


348 


BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 


When  at  last  he  returned  to  Italy  and  told  his  story, 
a  friend,  hearing  it,  wrote  it  down  in  a  book.  That  book 
was  so  full  of  marvels  that  when  it  was  finally  published, 
all  who  could,  put  hands  upon  a  copy  and  read  and  went 


The  Polos  Begin  Their  Journey 

away  with  excited  eyes,  telling  it  again  to  whoever  would 
listen.  Men  told  over  and  over  of  the  Grand  Khan's 
palace  and  its  gilt  columns  entwined  with  carved  dragons ; 
of  the  sacred  herd  of  ten  thousand  milk-white  horses ;  of 
the  level  roads  with  their  flying  horsemen  and  fleet  run- 
ners that  could  make  a  ten  days'  journey  in  one ;   of  the 


SHIPS  IN  STRANGE  SEAS 


349 


great  Kiang  River,  ten  miles  wide  in  some  places ;  of  the 
river  town  where  fifteen  thousand  boats  were  tied  up ;  of 
that  marvelous  Celestial  City,  a  hundred  miles  around, 
with  twelve  thousand  bridges 
across  its  rivers  and  canals, 
with  its  stone-paved  streets, 
by  means  of  which  "  passen- 
gers can  travel  to  every  part 
without  soiling  their  feet"; 
of  the  island  of  Java,  where 
grew ' '  pepper,  nutmegs,  spike- 
nard, galangal,  cubebs,  cloves, 
and  all  the  other  valuable 
spices  and  drugs." 

The  Polos  had  gone  home 
by  ship  through  the  China 
Sea,  past  the  Spice  Islands,  past  Ceylon  and  the  Indian 
coast,  through  the  Indian  Ocean  and  the  Persian  Gulf, 
without  being  troubled  by  the  Turks.  "If  only  we  might 
get  our  ships  into  those  waters!"  thought  the  traders 
who  read  Polo's  book.  "Now  that  the  Turks  have  shut 
the  gates  of  land  travel  to  Asia,  it  would  be  good  to  find 
some  sea  route  from  our  Mediterranean  into  those  eastern 
seas.  If  we  could  only  sail  around  Africa,  we  might  come 
into  the  Indian  Ocean."  One  man  in  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury accomplished  a  wonderful  work  that  made  such  a 
voyage  possible.  He  was  a  prince  of  the  little  country  of 
Portugal. . 


Kublai  Khan 
A  Chinese  picture 


Portugal's  Great  Explorers 

This  country  was  on  the  western  edge  of  the  world, 
looking  out  over  the  terrible,  the  unguessed  Atlantic. 
Men  standing  on  her  cliffs  and  gazing  westward  must 
have  felt  a   thrill  of   terror.      They   could  see  nothing 


350  BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 

beyond  but  endless  waters.     What  lay  out  there  under 

the    sunset?     Ignorant  men  thought:    "Of    course  the 

ocean  stretches  as  far  as  eye  can  see,  but  it  must 

tiiTocean  ^ave  an  en(*'  -^  *s  Pr°kably  cut  off  suddenly, 
and  a  ship  would  slip  over  its  edge  into  —  what  ? 
Besides,  do  you  see  how  a  ship  keeps  dropping  down  as 
it  sails  out  in  that  direction?  First  the  hull  disappears, 
then  the  sail,  then  the  flag  on  the  mast.  It  is  going  down- 
hill toward  that  awful  jumping-off  place." 

And  toward  the  south,  what  was  there?  These  same 
ignorant  men  thought  that  a  few  hundred  miles  south  of 
the  Mediterranean  the  earth  became  so  hot  that  the  air 
was  aflame  and  the  sea  steaming.  For  as  one  journeyed 
into  Africa,  did  not  the  climate  grow  hotter  and  hotter, 
and  was  not  the  ground  parched  so  that  no  plants  could 
grow,  and  were  not  the  people  scorched  brown?  Men 
believed,  too,  that  a  magnet  mountain  lay  somewhere 
in  that  far-off  sea.  Acting  upon  the  iron  of  the  ships  it 
would  draw  them  toward  it,  would  pull  out  the  nails 
that  held  them  together  and  strew  the  timbers  of  the 
wrecks  over  the  waves.  Monsters,  moreover,  lived  on 
the  land,  men  thought,  death-dealing  creatures  and  man- 
eaters. 

Yet  there  were  educated  men  who  knew  that  these 
were  foolish  superstitions,  who  had  learned  from  the 
writings  of  the  old  Greek  philosophers  that  the  earth  is  a 
sphere  and  that  the  ocean  laps  it  round  like  a  blanket. 
Prince  Henry  of  Portugal  was  one  of  these  learned  men. 
He  knew  much  about  the  sha£e  of  the  earth  and  wished 
to  learn  more.  He  was  a  scientist  and  mathematician, 
liking  to  figure  out  problems  in  astronomy  and  surveying. 
He  was  a  great  reader,  too,  and  had  read  Herodotus  and 
Marco  Polo's  book  and  Ptolemy's  "Geography,"  written 
ages  before  in  learned  Alexandria.     He  had,  besides,  a 


SHIPS  IN  STRANGE  SEAS  351 

great  deal  of  money,  so  that  he  could  buy  maps  and  make 
experiments  quite  impossible  for  poorer  men. 

So  he  chose  a  home  for  himself  on  the  very  southwestern 
point  of  Portugal  where  the  Atlantic  tides  and  the  sea 
winds  swept  in.     Here  he  built  a  palace  where 
he  could  live,  an  observatory  where  he  could  prince 
study  the  stars,  a  dock  where  he  could  have  ships  Henry's 
built.     He  encouraged  all  men  of  learning  and      ans 
all  sailors  who  had  had  interesting  voyages  to  visit  him 
and  to  tell  him  their  stories. 

For  centuries  ships  had  gone  along  the  desert  coast  of 
northwestern  Africa  for  seven  hundred  miles  or  more, 
stopping  here  and  there  to  trade  with  the  Moorish  in- 
habitants for  gold  and  ivory  and  curious  things.  But  at 
a  certain  cape  that  stretched  outward  into  the  strange 
west,  beaten  by  great  waves,  the  ships  had  always  turned 
back.  Men  had  named  the  point  Cape  Non  or  Cape 
Not,  because  for  the  ship  that  sailed  past  it  there  was  not 
any  return. 

To  pass  this  impassable  cape,  to  push  exploration  as 
far  as  possible  down  the  African  coast  became  the  dream 
and  the  purpose  of  Prince  Henry's  life.     He  sat  in  his 
observatory  and  studied  the  stars,  in  his  library  and 
pored  over  his  maps,  all  telling  different  things  about  the 
unknown  parts  of  the  world.     He  had  ships  built,  he  hired 
sailors,  he  offered  prizes  to  captains  who  should  find  new 
lands.     He  sketched  maps  for  them,  wrote  sailing  direc- 
tions.    He  commanded  his  captains  at  any  risk  to  sail 
beyond  Cape  Non.     He  laughed  at  the  foolish 
belief  in  the  sea  of  darkness  and  the  magnet  Th? 
mountain  and  the  flaming  air.     At  last  he  en-  Coast 
ticed  one  ship  past  the  cape.     And  since,  as  the 
old  Portuguese  chronicler  says,   "the  beginning  is  two 
parts  of  the  whole  matter,"  soon  others  followed  and 


Henry  the  Navigator 

On  the  shelves  notice  his  books,  astrolabe,  compass,  sundial,  drawing  instru- 
ments, and  globe  — the  tools  of  the  explorer.  But  he  was  also  knight  and 
crusader:  note  his  armor  and  the  garter  about  his  knee.  That  is  the  badge  of 
an  English  order  of  knighthood.  In  the  upper  right-hand  corner  is  the  seal  of 
that  order  with  its  French  motto,  "Evil  to  him  who  evil  thinks."  At  the 
bottom  of  the  picture  are  the  armies  with  which  Prince  Henry  helped  to  cap- 
ture the  Mohammedan  city  of  Ceuta  in  Africa 


(352 


SHIPS  IN  STRANGE  SEAS  353 

learned  that  the  sea  beyond  Cape  Non  was  no  different 
from  that  nearer  home. 

Before  long,  however,  a  new  cape  barred  the  way.  It 
thrust  a  long  finger  a  hundred  miles  westward,  and  the 
waves  ran  fiercely  at  its  point.  So  for  many  years  ships 
ran  bravely  the  thousand  miles  to  Cape  Bojador  and  then 
went  back  home,  having  seen  no  new  lands,  having  got 
no  nearer  to  Asia.  But  at  last  a  daring  captain  doubled 
this  cape,  too,  and  found  the  sea  on  the  other 
side  "as  easy  to  sail  in  as  the  waters  at  home." 
He  carried  back  to  the  prince  not  only  his  story,  but  some 
roses  that  he  had  gathered  in  a  land  hitherto  untouched, 
perhaps,  by  white  men. 

Every  new  cape  conquered  made  the  captains  bolder. 
The  very  summer,  indeed,  that  Gil  Eannes  passed  Bo- 
jador, two  young  knights  of  his  company,  landing  with 
their  horses,  rode  twenty  miles  and  had  a  glimpse  Slaves 
of  the  wild  natives.    After  that  Antonio  Gon-  and 
galves,  a  daring  young  nobleman  in  charge  of  a  Wealth, 
ship,  being  eager  for  adventure  and  for  honor,  I442 
and  wishing  to  please  his  beloved  prince,  sailed  into  these 
strange  waters.     He  and  his  good  friend,  together  with 
twenty  men,  surprised  a  little  village,  crying  out,  "Saint 
James  for  Portugal,"  as  they  fell  upon  the  people  and 
captured  ten  men,  women,  and  children. 

This  capturing  of  people  who  had  done  no  harm  does 
not  seem  to-day  like  a  very  noble  adventure,  but  the  men 
of  Goncalves's  company  thought  so  highly  of  it  that 
they  considered  the  young  man  worthy  of  knighthood, 
and  there  on  the  savage  African  shore  he  knelt  and  re- 
ceived the  accolade *  from  the  hands  of  his  friend,  already 
a  knight.  It  seemed  important  to  these  men  to  be  able 
to  carry  back  to  their  prince  real  living  natives  of  that 

1  See  page  238. 


354  BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 

far-off  fairyland.  Prince  Henry,  also,  thought  this  a 
great  and  useful  deed,  for  he  hoped  to  make  Christians 
of  these  captives  and  to  get  from  them,  too,  more  definite 
knowledge  concerning  their  country.  So,  indeed,  it 
proved,  and  a  little  later  Goncalves  got  in  partial  exchange 
for  one  of  his  captives  a  little  bag  of  gold  dust  together 
with  a  few  black  men,  the  slaves  of  the  Moorish  tribe  to 
which  the  captives  belonged. 

Gold  and  slaves  to  be  had  for  the  capturing!  White 
men  needed  no  further  encouragement  to  make  the 
African  voyage.  Little  trading  settlements  grew  up  on 
this  gold  coast.  Then  began  the  slave  traffic,  that  con- 
tinued for  almost  four  hundred  years.  Ships  came  and 
went,  laden  with  gold  and  with  black  men,  the  sea  roads 
grew  busy,  and  Portugal  grew  rich. 

But  though  many  men  set  out  for  Africa  only  in  the 
hope  of  gain,  caring  nothing  for  finding  new  lands  or 
for  getting  new  knowledge,  yet  the  prince  kept  his 
scientific  interest,  his  love  of  discovery.  He  had  read 
the  old  story  told  by  Herodotus,  theN  Greek  historian, 
who  says:  "Neco,  king  of  Egypt,  .  .  .  sent  certain 
Phoenicians  in  ships  [from  the  Red  Sea]  with  orders  to 
sail  back  through  .the  Pillars  of  Hercules  into  the  northern 
sea  [that  is,  the  Mediterranean]  and  so  to  return  to  Egypt. 
The  Phoenicians,  accordingly,  setting  out  from  the  Red 
Sea,  navigated  the  southern  sea.  When  autumn  came, 
they  went  ashore  and  sowed  the  land  by  whatever  part 
of  Libya  [that  is,  Africa]  they  happened  to  be  sailing,  and 
waited  for  the  harvest.  Then,  having  reaped  the  grain, 
they  put  to  sea  again.  When  two  years  had  thus  passed, 
in  the  third,  having  doubled  the  Pillars  of  Hercules,  they 
arrived  in  Egypt. "  1 

As  the  prince's  discoveries  and  studies  continued,  he 

1  See  page  8. 


SHIPS  IN  STRANGE  SEAS  355 

probably  came  to  think:  "That  voyage  is  a  proof  that 
Africa  has  an  end  toward  the  south.  The  Indian  Ocean 
over  east  of  it  and  the  Atlantic  west  of  it  must  flow  to- 
gether at  that  southern  end.  If  we  could  round  that 
point,  we  should  come  into  the  Indian  Ocean  and  might 
sail  on  to  China  and  the  Spice  Islands."  But  Prince 
Henry  died  before  his  ships  had  gone  half  the  way  down 
the  African  coast  as  we  know  it  now. 

Yet  he  had  not  spent  his  forty  years  of  work  in  vain. 
Men  had  sailed  westward  for  eight  hundred  miles  and  had 
found,  not  a  sea  of  darkness,  not  the  edge  of  Results 
the  world,  but  the  fair  islands  of  the  Azores,  of  Prince 
They  had  sailed  southward  to  the  equator,  and  Henry's 
their  ships  had  not   been  sucked  down  into      or 
a  boiling  whirlpool,  nor  had  the  men  been  burned  black 
by  a  scorching  sun.     Indeed,  they  had  found  a  land  rich 
with   more    nourishing   plants  than  grew  in   Portugal. 
Moreover,  Prince  Henry  had  trained  up  a  class  of  captains 
and  sailors  who  knew  better  how  to  handle  a  ship  and  to 
take  reckonings  than  seamen  before  them.     And  hun- 
dreds of  people  became  interested  in  sailing  around  Africa. 

So  the  voyages  continued  after  Prince  Henry's  death. 
In  1486  his  nephew,  King  John,  sent  out  four  expeditions 
at  once. 

One  man  went  through  Egypt  to  the  hidden  lands  of 
Africa,  exploring  the  shore.     Here  he  found,  stretching 
along  the  eastern  coast,  a  line  of  Mohammedan 
towns  of  busy  traders,  where  came  ships  from  V*e 
India  and  Arabia.      He  sent  letters  home,  say-  Turned 
ing:   "Keep  southward.     If  you  persist,  Africa 
must  come  to  an  end.     And  when  ships  come  to   the 
Eastern  Ocean  let  them  ask  for  Sofala  and  the  island  of 
the  Moon  [Madagascar],  and  they  will  find  pilots  to  take 
them  to  Malabar  [in  India]." 


356 


BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 


1487 


That  was  an  encouraging  message,  indeed,  and  a  helpful 
discovery.  But  another  of  King  John's  expeditions  made 
a  still  more  important  one.  Bartholomew  Diaz 
with  two  ships  sailed  southward  along  Africa 
for  sixteen  months.  In  winter  cold  and  on  tossing  seas 
he  rounded  the  end  of  Africa  at  last,  and  knew  that  the 

next  Portuguese  ship 
might  sail  on  into  the 
warm,  busy  waters  of 
the  East.  But  his 
own  men  did  not  realize 
what  a  great  thing 
they  had  done,  and, 
worn  out  with  cold 
and  long  sailing,  de- 
manded to  go  home. 
The  king  of  Portugal, 
when  he  heard  Diaz's 
story,  knew  that  Prince 
Henry's  dream  was 
realized,  that  the  sea 
road  to  India  was  open. 
Therefore  he  refused 
to  call  the  new  point 
"Cape  of  Storms,'' 
as  the  wind-tossed  sailor  Diaz  had  named  it,  but  rather 
"Cape  of  Good  Hope,"  because  it  opened  to  Portugal 
so  good  hopes  of  trade  and  wealth. 

Yet  it  was  ten  years  before  any  one  again  doubled  the 
cape  and  made  the  much-hoped-for  voyage  into  the 
Indian  Ocean.  Four  ships  were  built  on  purpose,  and 
the  king  put  in  command  of  them  a  Portuguese  gentle- 
man, Vasco  da  Gama.  The  king  and  the  queen  and  the 
nobles  of  the  court  gathered  to  see  the  beginning  of  this 


Exploration  Moves   down 
can  Coast 


the    Afri- 


SHIPS  IN  STRANGE  SEAS 


357 


yet  untried  voyage.     They  and  the  adventurers  crowded 
into  a  chapel  to  ask  God's  blessing  on  this  great  Alound 
attempt.     After  that,  two  long  years  passed,  the  Cape 
and  no  news  came  to  the  king  concerning  the  fate  t0  ^^a- 
of  the  expedition.      But  in  another  two  months  I497 
the  ships  sailed  into  harbor  with  the  rich  smell  of  spices 


Mediterranean 


Western  Africa 

From  a  globe  made  in  149'^ 
by  Behaim.  The  large  flags 
show  the  discoveries  of  the 
Portuguese.  Notice  that 
the  people  live  in  tents 


clinging  about  them,  and  Da  Gama  put  into  the  hands  of 
the  king  a  letter  from  an  Indian  ruler.  "  Vasco  da  Gama, 
a  nobleman  of  your  household,"  it  said,  "has  visited  my 


35& 


BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 


kingdom  and  has  given  me  great  pleasure.  In  my  king- 
dom there  is  abundance  of  cinnamon,  cloves,  ginger, 
pepper,  and  precious  stones.  What  I  seek  from  thy 
country  is  gold,  silver,  coral,  and  scarlet." 

Da  Gama  had  a  marvelous  story  to  tell.     In  his  voyage 
southward  he  had  not  clung  to  the  coast  of  Africa,  as 

others  had  done,  but  had 
laid  a  circling  course  through 
the  broad  Atlantic,  thinking 

,    to  shorten  the  dis- 
Da  Gama  s    .  . 

Experience  tance-  For  ninety- 
three  days  he  had 
sailed  without  sight  of  land. 
Then  he  had  touched  Africa, 
and  from  that  time  on  he 
had  stopped  here  and  there 
to  explore  or  to  get  fresh 
water  or  fish  or  game. 

Farther  north  along  the 
coast  they  had  found  the 
Mohammedan  country  that 
King  John's  traveler  had 
written  of.  Here  were  well- 
built  cities,  with  beautiful 
palaces  and  gardens,  some- 
what like  those  of  Moorish  Spain  and  northern  Africa. 
The  people  were  civilized  Arabs,  dressing  in  silks  and  sit- 
ting upon  rich  cushions.  In  the  harbors  were  trading 
ships  from  India.  The  king  of  one  of  these  towns  had 
given  Da  Gama  pilots,  who  had  guided  him  to  the  kingdom 
of  Calicut,  in  India,  the  land  of  silks  and  gems  and  spices. 
The  Portuguese  sailors  had  actually  set  foot  upon  this 
fabulous  land,  had  talked  with  the  people,  had  bowed 
before  its  king,  and  had  received  a  letter  from  his  hand. 


Vasco  da  Gama 


SHIPS  IN  STRANGE  SEAS  359 

But  Moorish  merchants  who  lived  in  this  country,  being 
jealous  of  the  strangers,  had  made  them  much  trouble,  so 
that  the  Portuguese  had  scarcely  escaped  with  their  lives. 

On  the  way  home,  moreover,  they  had  met  hard  winds 
in  crossing  the  Indian  Ocean  and  had  been  three  months 
and  three  days  without  sighting  land,  so  that  food  had 
become  scarce  and  water  low.  Thirty  men  had  died  of 
scurvy,  and  only  seven  or  eight  in  each  ship  had  been 
able  to  work  the  ropes  and  attend  to  the  sailing.  When 
they  had  at  last  landed  on  the  African  coast  they  had 
burned  one  ship,  because  they  had  had  too  few  men  to  sail 
them  all .    Hard  and  long  had  been  the  first  voyage  to  India . 

That  expedition  was  the  joy  of  geographers,  because 
it  laid  open  a  half  of  the  world  hitherto  un-  APortu. 
known.     That  letter  from  an  Indian  ruler  was  guese 
a  trumpet   call  to  Portuguese   merchants,  be-  Empire 
cause  it  promised  trade  and  wealth.     Before  m    sia 
twenty  years  were  gone,  a  Portuguese  army  had  fought  in 
Persia  and  India  and  Siam,  had  captured  the  five  most 
useful  seaports,  had  built  up  a  Portuguese  empire  in  the 
East  over  which  a  Portuguese  viceroy  ruled.     Storehouses, 
markets,  and  dwellings  were  built  in  the  cities  of  Asia 
like  those  in  the  factories  of  the  Hanse  towns  in  northern 
Europe x  and  of  the  Italian  towns  in  the  eastern  Mediter- 
ranean.    Portuguese  officers  were  left  in  charge  of  these 
factories,  with  workmen  to  repair  and  build  ships  and 
handle  goods  and  with  soldiers  and  warships  to  guard 
the  settlements. 

Fleets  of  Portuguese  vessels  passed  to  and  fro  around 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  to  trade  in  Arabia,  India,  and  the 
eastern  islands.  From  Europe  they  carried  copper, 
quicksilver,  vermilion  dye,  brass  basins  from  Flanders, 
scarlet  cloth,  colored  silks,  perhaps  made  in  Florence. 

1  See  page  286. 


360 


BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 


They  found  in  the  storehouses  at  the  Indian  factories 
rice,  sugar,  honey,  oil,  cocoanuts.  Portuguese  ships 
went  even  further,  out  into  the  island-sown  ocean  south 
of  Siam,  and  one  little  fleet  of  vessels  turned  northward 
and  visited  that  marvelous  China  that  Marco  Polo  had 
written  of.  Travelers  explored  lands  unknown  before 
and  wrote  books  about  them.  Europeans  were  beginning 
to  be  at  home  in  Africa  and  Asia. 


Spanish  Ships  in  a  New  World 

While  Portugal  was  uncovering  hidden  Africa  and 
before  she  had  found  the  southeastern  path  to  India 
through  strange  seas  and  dreaded  dangers, 
another  sailor  and  scientist  was  forming  a 
different  plan  —  to  sail  westward  from  Por- 
tugal across  the  Atlantic  and  so  to  come  to  China.     For 


A  New 
Plan 


The  World  as  Europeans  Knew  it  before  1492 


he,  like  Prince  Henry,  had  read  the  Greek  books  about 
geography  and  believed  that  the  earth  is  round.  He  had 
read,  too,  the  books  of  the  great  travelers  in  China, 


SHIPS  IN  STRANGE  SEAS  361 

and  he  noted  that  they  said  the  ocean  was  east  of  Asia 
as  it  was  west  of  Europe.  He  thought,  therefore,  that 
the  sea  lapped  over  the  globe  from  Europe  to  Asia,  that 
the  ocean  lying  at  his  feet  as  he  stood  on  the  Portuguese 
shore  washed  the  rich  coasts  of  China  on  the  other  side 
of  the  world. 

This   dreamer  was   Christopher   Columbus.     He   had 
grown  up   in  Genoa,   the  great   Italian  trading  town. 
There  he  had  seen  ships  sail  out  for  strange- 
sounding  places  at  the  far  end  of  the  sea,  and  ?fly, 
he  had  beheld  them  come  back  and  unload  Columbus 
jewels   and   silks   and   spices  that   smelled   of 
China  and  the  yet  more  distant  Cipango  or  Japan.   Being 
an  imaginative  boy,  he  had  formed  a  "  magnificent  and 
great  desire  to  find  a  way  to  where  the  spices  grew." 
He  had  gone  to  the  university  to  learn  mathematics  and 
astronomy  so  that  he  should  be  able  to  find  his  way 
through   unknown   waters.     He   had   learned    Latin   so 
that  he  might  read  the  books  that  Eastern  travelers  had 
written. 

Then  he  had  gone  to  Portugal,  the  sailors'  paradise. 
He  had  become  acquainted  with  some  of  her  great  cap- 
tains and  had  married  the  daughter  of  one  of  them.  He 
himself  says  in  his  journal:  "I  have  traversed  the  sea 
for  twenty-three  years  without  leaving  it  for  any  time 
worth  counting,  and  I  saw  all  in  the  east  and  the  west, 
going  on  the  route  of  the  north,  which  is  England,  and  I 
have  been  to  Guinea  [that  is,  Africa]."  He  had  talked 
with  some  of  the  wise  men  in  Prince  Henry's  old  school 
and  had  seen  the  precious  maps  in  his  museum.  And 
all  the  time  his  dream  kept  growing  stronger  and  more 
real  before  his  eyes. 

At  last  he  was  received  by  the  king  of  Portugal  and 
told  him  of  his  plan.     But  it  seemed  like  a  wild  scheme 


[362] 


SHIPS  IN  STRANGE  SEAS  363 

to   the   king  and  his  councilors,  and  they  refused  him 

ships.     Columbus  left  Portugal  in  anger,  but  he  did  not 

give  up  his  plan.     He  was  determined  to  cross 

that  uncrossed  sea.     Yet'  he  was  a  poor  man,     ^^ 

and  only  a  king's  purse  was  large  enough  to 

supply  the  ships  and  hire  the  men  necessary  for  the 

great  voyage. 

During  eight  years  he  sought  one  government,  then 
another,  perhaps  Genoa  and  Venice  and  England.  He 
interviewed  great  nobles  of  Spain,  and  they  sent  him 
to  King  Ferdinand  and  Queen  Isabella.  But  they  were 
busy  with  their  wars  against  the  Moors ;  for  they  had 
determined  to  free  Spain  utterly  from  her  old-time  Mo- 
hammedan conquerors.1  So  Columbus  was  kept  waiting 
four  years  at  the  court. 

The  stories  of  that  weary  time,  with  the  learned  scoffing 
at  him  and  the  ignorant  laughing,  with  the  delays  on 
account  of  wars  and  princely  marriages  and  royal  business, 
with  the  examination  by  men  who  thought  themselves 
wiser  than  this  unknown  sailor ;  the  story  of  his  bitter  dis- 
appointment, of  his  leaving  the  court,  of  his  poverty,  of  his 
wanderings,  of  the  friends  he  found,  and  of  his  second 
visit  to  the  court  —  all  these  stories  show  him  as  a  sad 
and  suffering  man,  but  a  man  of  burning  enthusiasm 
and  of  iron  will.  He  believed  in  his  dream.  And  because 
he  believed,  because  he  would  not  give  up,  and  because  he 
had  real  knowledge  and  science  on  his  side,  he  won  at  last. 

On  August  3,  1492,  seven  months  after  the  Moorish 
war  was  finished  and  Spain  was  at  last  free 
from  the  Mohammedans   and    proud   of    her  ^ol^im- 
victory,  three   little   ships   set  sail   from   the  voyage 
Spanish  harbor  of  Palos  —  the  Santa  Maria,  the 
Pinta,  and  the  Nifia.     There  were  one  hundred  twenty 

1  See  page  326. 


364 


BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 


men  on  board,  and  Columbus  commanded  them  as 
admiral.  The  wharves  were  crowded  with  their  friends, 
weeping;  for  they  thought  never  again  to  see  ships  or 
sailors  who  were  facing  the  horrors  of  an  unsailed  ocean. 


Columbus,  Departing  on  His  First  Voyage,  Takes  Leave 
of  the  King  and  Queen 

Notice  that  the  ships  anchor  and  send  rowboats  ashore 

It  proved,  however,  to  be  a  very  mild,  safe  voyage. 
'The  sea  was  like  a  river,  the  air  pleasant  and  very  mild," 
says  Columbus  in  his  journal,  where  every  night  he 
wrote  down  with  care  all  the  happenings  of  the  day. 
Again  he  says,  "It  is  a  pleasure  to  be  here,  so  balmy  are 
the  breezes."  The  sailors  even  bathed  alongside,  bathed 
in  bottomless  waters,  in  seas  thousands  of  miles  broad, 
in  an  ocean  never  before  touched  by  ships  ! 

But  even  in  fair  weather  it  is  a  hard  thing  to  face  the 
unknown,  day  after  day,  to  see  every  evening  at  sunset 
and  every  morning  at   dawn  the  same  empty  ocean. 


SHIPS  IN  STRANGE  SEAS  365 

Moreover,  the  constant  east  wind  that  pleased  Columbus 
because  it  was  driving  him  on  towards  Asia  frightened 
the  sailors  because  it  was  driving  them  away  from  home. 
"My  people  were  much  excited/'  Columbus  says,  "at 
the  thought  that  in  these  seas  no  wind  ever  blew  in  the 
direction  of  Spain."  After  a  month  the  men  could  endure 
no  longer.  They  had  been  grumbling  among  themselves. 
At  last  they  complained  aloud  to  the  admiral  and  de- 
manded that  he  should  turn  the  ship  about  and  sail 
home. 

"But,"  says  Columbus,  "the  admiral  cheered  them  up 
in  the  best  way  he  could."  Doubtless  he  painted  glowing 
pictures  of  the  riches  they  would  find  in  China.  He  per- 
haps reminded  them  of  the  letter,  written  on  parchment 
and  bearing  the  great  seals  of  the  king  and  the  queen. 
This  he  was  carrying  to  that  magnificent  monarch  of 
China,  the  Grand  Khan.  When  encouragement  failed 
to  calm  his  sailors,  this  man  of  iron  will  told  them  that 
"However  much  they  might  complain,  he  had  to  go  to  the 
Indies,  and  that  he  would  go  on  until  he  found  them,  with 
the  help  of  our  Lord."  Two  nights  later  they 
saw  land,  and  on  the  morning  of  Friday,  October  r  fwd 
twelfth,  they  set  foot  upon  solid  earth. 

For  the  next  three  months  they  explored  these  coasts. 
Columbus  must  have  been  disappointed.  He  had  ex- 
pected to  find  the  gorgeous  China  of  which  he  had  read 
in  Marco  Polo's  book,  with  its  thousands  of  ships,  its 
marble  bridges,  its  palaces,  its  exquisite  gardens,  its 
princes  in  embroidered  silk,  its  gold  and  jewels  and  per- 
fumes and  precious  spices.  Instead  he  saw  naked  people, 
living  in  rude  huts,  with  hardly  a  glint  of  gold.  Yet  he 
seems  to  have  enjoyed  those  months  of  exploration.  He 
had  an  eye  for  beautiful  scenery,  and  he  found  here  a 
landscape  that  delighted  him.     "I  walked  among  the 


366 


BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 


l&ceanica 


trees,"  he  says,  " which  was  the  most  beautiful  thing  I 
had  ever  seen.  ...  I  can  never  tire  my  eyes  in  looking 
at  such  lovely  vegetation.  ...  I  found  the  smell  of 
the  trees  and  flowers  so  delicious  that  it  seemed  the 
pleasantest  thing  in  the  world.  ...     I  wanted  to  go  and 

anchor  there/'  he  says  of 
a  certain  coast,  "so  as  to 
go  on  shore  and  see  so 
much  beauty.' ' 

He  was  gentle  and 
friendly  with  the  natives, 
never  allowing  his  men  to 
hurt  them  or  to  take  their 
goods.  For  he  knew  that 
many  ships  of  Spain  would 
follow  him,  that  the  king 
and  queen  would  build 
towns  in  this  new  land, 
and  he  hoped  to  have  the 
natives  receive  Spaniards 
as  friends.  Moreover,  the 
great  admiral  was  a  man 
of  religious  heart.     "This 


The  Santa  Maria 

Perhaps  Columbus  himself  drew 
the  picture 


was  the  beginning  and  end  of  the  undertaking,"  he  says, 
"namely,  the  increase  and  glory  of  the  Christian  reli- 
gion," and  he  begged  the  king  and  queen  to  send  mis- 
sionaries to  convert  the  natives. 

When  the  explorers  set  sail  for  home,  instead  of  costly 
cinnamon  and  pepper  they  carried  a  few  rolls  of  a  strange 
thing  that  the  natives  burned  in  their  mouths  and  which 
they  called  "tobacco."  Instead  of  silks  they  had  samples 
of  cotton.  Instead  of  embroidered  robes  they  had  curious 
things  woven  of  string  in  which  the  people  slept  and  which 
they   called   "hammocks."     No   wealthy   Chinese   mer- 


SHIPS  IN  STRANGE  SEAS  367 

chants  accompanied  them,  but  a  few  naked  and  painted 
" Indians,"  as  Columbus  called  them.  The  admiral 
still  carried  the  royal  letter  for  the  Grand  Khan,  un- 
delivered. 

There  had  been  tears  and  smiles  of  scorn  and  gloomy 
prophecies  when  Columbus  had  sailed  from  Spain.  When 
he  returned,  there  were  processions  and  shout- 
ings of  joy  and  crowded  roadsides  and  house-  r0,^118 
tops  wherever  he  passed.  Noblemen  rode  out 
of  the  city  to  welcome  him.  The  whole  court  assembled 
to  meet  him,  and  the  king  and  queen  rose  up  from 
their  thrones  to  do  him  honor.  People  gazed  with 
wonder  and  surprise  at  the  Indians,  the  stuffed  animals, 
and  the  dried  branches  of  fruits  and  flowers  that  he  had 
brought.  They  listened  with  delight  to  his  descriptions 
of  the  countries  he  had  seen  and  to  his  hopes  of  finding 
the  Grand  Khan  on  his  next  voyage.  Every  one  felt 
that  he  had  well  earned  his  title  of  Spanish  Admiral  of 
the  High  Seas  for  himself  and  his  heirs  forever,  of  viceroy 
and  governor  over  all  continents  and  islands  that  he 
should  discover,  and  the  noble  name  of  Don. 

What  had  he  really  done?     He  himself  thought  that 
he  had  found  a  new  way  to  China  and  India.     The  Span- 
ish king  and  queen  evidently  thought  that  he 
had  discovered  some  new  islands,  probably  near       atD  ®e 
neighbors  to  Asia.     He  had  in  reality  done  a 
great  deal  more.     The  shores  which  he  had  found  were 
the  island  fringe  of  a  new  world,  the  West  Indies  of  our 
America.     He  had,  moreover,  broken  the  magic  of  the 
unknown  sea.     Men  had  for  centuries  lived  on  its  edge 
and  wondered  how  far  it  stretched  and  what  manner  of 
end  it  had,  but  no  man  had  dared  to  explore  it.     Now, 
however,  a  man  had  laughed  at  fears  and  foolish  stories, 
had  risked  all  the  horrors,  had  proved  that  this  sea  was 


368  BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 

as  much  a  sailor's  home  as  any  other.  He  had  laid  out  a 
road  across  that  untraveled  ocean;  for  where  one  ship 
had  gone  others  might  go.  Spain  rang  with  the  glory  of 
the  voyage,  and  the  sailors  in  every  seaport  of  Europe 
must  have  longed  to  try  their  skill  and  their  luck  in  a  like 
adventure. 

Rival  Explorers 

In  England,  indeed,  men  were  unwilling  to  see  Spain 
monopolize  the  new  lands.     In   1497,   only  five  years 

after  Columbus'  voyage,  John  Cabot,  a  Vene- 
Expiora-  tian  sailor,  put  out  from  Bristol,  England,  with 
tion :  a  letter  in  his  sea  chest,  giving  him  the  right  to 

Cabot,         explore  in  the  west  and  claim  new  lands  for  the 

English  king.  An  Italian,  visiting  in  Eng- 
land, wrote  to  an  Italian  duke:  "In  this  kingdom  there 
is  a  certain  Venetian  named  Zoanne  Caboto,  of  gentle 
disposition,  very  expert  in  navigation,  who  seeing  that 
the  most  serene  kings  of  Portugal  and  Spain  had  oc- 
cupied unknown  islands,  meditates  the  achievement  of  a 
similar  expedition  for  the  said  Majesty.  Having  obtained 
royal  privileges  securing  to  himself  the  use  of  the  dominions 
he  might  discover,  the  sovereignty  being  reserved  to  the 
Crown,  he  intrusted  his  fortune  to  a  small  vessel  with  a 
crew  of  eighteen  persons  and  set  out  from  Bristol,  a  port 
in  the  western  part  of  this  kingdom.  ...  At  length  he 
hit  upon  land,  where  he  hoisted  the  royal  standard  and 
took  possession  for  his  highness,  and  having  obtained 
various  proofs  of  his  discovery,  he  returned."  In  two 
voyages  he  touched  upon  the  shores  of  modern  Canada 
and  of  the  United  States. 

What  country  could  find  more  lands  and  richer  ones? 
That  was  the  question.  The  Portuguese  kept  pushing 
farther  and  farther  east,  even  as  far  as  the   Molucca 


SHIPS  IN  STRANGE  SEAS  369 

Islands,  where  the  spices  grew.      One  of  their  captains 
on  his    way    southward  to  round  Africa  was  rortu^uese 
carried  by  wind  and  current  far  to  the  west,  in  Brazil, 
so  that  he  touched  the  coast  that  we  now  call  I5°° 
Brazil.     He  claimed  it  for  his  country,  and  hers  it  re- 
mained for  almost  four  hundred  years. 

But  Spain  was  yet  busier.     Columbus  himself  made 
four  voyages,   exploring  many  islands  of  the  Columbus' 
West  Indies  and  the  north  coast  of  South  Amer-  Voyages, 
ica.     Other  captains  coasted  around  the  shore  J492-i502 
of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  touched  upon  Florida.     They 
explored  the  coasts  opposite  Cuba  and  sailed  southward 
almost  to  the  tip  of  South  America.     Americus  still 
Vespucius,  an  Italian,  whose  name  men  later  Searching 
gave  to  the  new  continents,  went  with  many  of  for  China 
these  exploring  captains  and  wrote  accounts  of  the  voyages.1 

For  a  long  time  these  trips  up  and  down  the  shores 
were  not  put  together  in  men's  minds.  People  did  not 
realize  that  the  land  which  Vespucius  saw  north  of  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  was  connected  with  that  which  he  found 
hundreds  of  miles  farther  south.  That  northern  part 
was,  to  them,  Asia.  But  what  was  the  southern  part? 
Marco  Polo  and  the  old  maps  had  said  nothing  of  a 
continent  south  of  Asia.  Some  people  began  to  call 
this  the  New  World.  They  wondered  what  shape  it  had. 
Where  was  its  southern  end,  or  did  it  have  any  end? 
What  lay  east  of  it  ?  Other  men,  however,  held  a  differ- 
ent opinion  about  that  southern  land.  They  considered 
it  to  be  a  long  cape  attached  to  Asia.  It  stretched  out 
into  the  ocean  and  cut  off  the  way  to  the  Spice  Islands. 

Magellan,  a  Portuguese  navigator,  determined  to  find 

1  A  German  professor  of  geography,  reading  these  rather  boastful  accounts 
and  thinking  that  Vespucius  had  found  the  southern  mainland  before  Columbus 
had  touched  it  on  his  third  voyage,  suggested  that  the  new  continent  be  called 
America  after  that  discov©r«r,  and  so  marked  it  on  the  map  that  he  published . 


37° 


BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 


Part  op  a  Globe  Made  in  1531 
It  shows  South  America  connected  with  Asia 


his  way  around  this  troublesome  land  to  the  rich  Indies 

hiding  behind  it.     He  was  already  an  experi- 
age  ans   encec}  saiior.     He  had  rounded  the  Cape  of 

Good  Hope  and  had  done  brave  fighting  for 
Portugal  on  the  shores  of  Asia.  He  had  sailed  farther 
east  than  most  white  men  of  his  time.  But  for  one 
reason  or  another  the  king  of  Portugal  thought  ill  of  his 
plan,  and  Magellan,  like  Columbus,  turned  from  Portu- 
gal to  Spain.  Again  Spain  accepted  the  great  man  whom 
her  neighbor  had  rejected. 

With  five  ships  and  two  hundred  eighty  men  Magellan 
started  out  to  meet  —  he  knew  not  what  —  and  to  prove 
beyond   all  doubt  that  the  earth  is  round.     It  was  all 

plain  sailing  to  the  Canaries,  then  across  the 
TiieSearch  new^  opened  Atlantic  to  Brazil  which  Portugal 

already  owned,  and  along  the  coast  of  the  new 
world  in  Vespucius'  track.  Here  they  sailed  into  many  a 
harbor  and  river  mouth,  looking  for  a  cut  through  the 
land  from  ocean  to  ocean.     But  far  down  on  the  coast  of 


SHIPS  IN  STRANGE  SEAS 


371 


A  Fleet  of  Magellan's  Time 


South  America,  in  St.  Julian's  Bay,  the  stormy  winter 
caught  the  party,  and  they  anchored  in  the  sheltered 
harbor  to  wait  for  good  sailing  weather.  Here  they 
"set  up  at  the  top  of  the  highest  mountain  which  was 
there  a  very  large  cross,  as  a  sign  that  this  country  be- 
longed to  the  king  of  Spain/ !  So  says  Pigafetta,  an 
Italian  gentleman  who  went  on  the  expedition  and  who 
wrote  a  journal  about  it. 

The  five  months  of  waiting  in  severe  cold,  with  little 
to  eat  and  little  to  do,  were  hard  to  bear.  The  men 
talked  among  themselves:  "This  captain-general  of  ours 
is  a  Portuguese,  while  we  are  Spaniards,  and  do  not  the 
Portuguese  and  Spaniards  hate  each  other  ?  He  is  trying 
to  destroy  us  by  keeping  us  in  this  miserable  frozen  land. 
Besides,  we  have  gone  farther  south  than  any  man  ever 
went  before.  Why  do  more?  Let  us  kill  this  captain- 
general  and  go  home." 

So  they  made  their  plan,  but  Magellan  learned  of  it, 
and  he  had  the  leaders  of  the  mutiny  killed,  and  some  of 
the  others  he  put  into  chains  and  imprisoned 
them  in  the  hulls  of  his  ships  to  work  the 
pumps.  The  Spaniards  came  to  feel  fear  and  respect  for 
this  man  of  prompt  action  and  heavy  hand  and  stout 


Trouble 


372  BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 

heart.  When  he  was  ready  to  sail  out  in  the  spring  he 
set  his  prisoners  at  liberty  and  gave  them  work  to  do, 
though  three  of  the  worst  trouble  makers  he  abandoned 
on  that  wild  shore  to  shift  for  themselves.  Before  he 
left  the  harbor  one  of  his  ships  ran  upon  rocks  and  was 
wrecked,  though  the  men  were  saved.  So  only  four  ships 
sailed  southward. 

They  went  on  for  two  months  and  then  did,  indeed,  find 
a  strait  leading  through  the  land.  This  they  entered, 
exploring  as  they  went,  and  when  the  ships  were  scattered 
and  out  from  under  Magellan's  eye,  one  of  them,  filled 
with  jealous  and  discontented  men,  sailed  away  for 
Spain.  The  three  others,  however,  kept  on  feeling  their 
way  along  the  winding  channel,  between  lands  that  were 
" rocky  and  also  stark  with  eternal  cold,"  so  that  Magellan 
thought  them  not  worth  exploring.  Every  man's  eyes 
were  always  ahead  seeking  a  glimpse  of  the  ocean  that  held 
the  Moluccas  and  the  well-known  world  of  Asia.  At  last 
the  strait  did  indeed  open  out.  The  shore  of  the  new  world 
bent  northward.    The  open  Pacific  lay  before  the  voyagers. 

But  where  were  the  rich   Spice   Islands?     Magellan 

pointed  his  ships'  heads  northwest  and  sailed  out  into 

the   unmapped    sea.     "  Wednesday,    the   28th 

Pacific  **    of  November>  1520>  we  came  forth  out  of  the 
said  strait,"  says  Pigafetta,  "and  entered  into 

the  Pacific  Sea,  where  we  remained  three  months  and 
twenty  days,  without  taking  in  provision  or  other  refresh- 
ment." Soon  the  drinking  water  was  yellow  and  foul. 
Before  much  longer  the  food  was  gone,  and  men  had  only 
the  sawdust  that  they  could  scrape  up  in  the  hull  and  the 
dirty,  wormy  crumbs  and  dust  left  from  the  biscuits. 
They  even  caught  the  ship's  rats  and  ate  them  and  cut  off 
strips  of  the  leather  that  was  bound  around  the  yardarm 
and  ate  that. 


SHIPS  IN  STRANGE  SEAS  373 

Three  months  and  twenty  days  without  proper  food 
and  proper  drink  and  proper  rest!  The  men  suffered 
many  diseases,  and  nineteen  of  them  died  and  were 
buried  in  that  strange  sea.  Nobody  knew  how  far  away 
the  Spice  Islands  were.  Every  day  for  all  that  time 
men  must  have  gazed  ahead  expecting  to  see  the  end  of 
their  horrible  voyage.  And  at  last  it  came.  The  thing 
that  Columbus  had  hoped  to  do  was  done.  A  European 
ship  by  sailing  west  had  reached  the  East. 

The  seaworn  sailors  of  Spain  and  Portugal  after  a  voy- 
age of  a  year  and  a  half  set  foot  first  upon  the  Ladrones, 
or  Thieves'  Islands,  and  then  upon  the  Phil- 
ippines. In  this  latter  place  they  found  the  w  sian 
people  friendly  and  gentle  and  eager  to  imitate 
the  ways  of  the  wonderful  strangers.  Magellan  straight- 
way set  about  making  them  Christians,  for  he  was  as 
much  a  missionary  as  a  discoverer.  He  had  with  him  a 
slave  who  had  been  born  in  one  of  the  Spice  Islands  and 
could  speak  the  language  of  the  Philippines.  So  Magellan 
preached  through  this  interpreter,  and  the  people  listened 
with  delight  and  asked  to  become  Christians.  They  tore 
down  their  idols  and  burned  them,  and  Magellan  set  up 
a  cross.  "  In  eight  days/'  says  Pigafetta,  "  all  the  inhabit- 
ants of  this  island  were  baptized  and  some  belonging  to 
the  neighboring  islands." 

Magellan,  loving  these  new  friends  and  converts  of  his, 
determined  to  help  them  in  war  and  peace.  With  sixty 
of  his  men  he  went  to  a  near-by  island  to  fight  the  king's 
battles  for  him.  And  there  on  the  edge  of  the  world 
fifteen  hundred  natives  with  arrows  and  javelins  and 
spears  and  stones  defeated  the  white  men  and  killed  the 
brave  Magellan,  "our  mirror,  light,  comfort,  and  true 
guide,"  as  Pigafetta  calls  him.  And  then  these  new- 
made  Christians  showed  how  much  their  new  religion 


374 


BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 


Magellan's  Victorious  Ship 

Note  the  "  very  good  iron  cannon,"  as  they  were  called  by  a  writer  of  the 
time.     The  flying  Victory  is  a  wooden  figurehead  such  as  many  old  ships  had 

and  new  friendship  meant  to  them,  for  they  turned 
against  the  defeated  white  men,  tore  down  the  cross  and 
broke  it  to  pieces,  and  killed  any  Spaniards  upon  whom 
they  could  put  their  hands. 

The  rest  sailed  sadly  away,  mourning  for  their  captain 
and  their  slain  comrades.  They  had  not  enough  men 
Around  ^°  sa^  three  ships,  and  so  they  burned  one. 
the  World  The  other  two  went  on  to  the  Moluccas, 
and  Home  where  the  men  traded  for  several  months,  that 
they  might  not  go  home  empty-handed.  But 
of  those  two  ships  one  was  lost  somewhere  in  the  eastern 
seas.  The  men  of  the  other  suffered  almost  as  much  on 
the  way  around  Africa  as  they  had  suffered  on  the  open 
Pacific.     Pigafetta  speaks  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  as 


SHIPS  IN  STRANGE  SEAS  375 

"that  terrible  cape/'  and  again  calls  it  "the  largest  and 
most  dangerous  cape  in  the  world."  "We  remained  off 
that  cape  for  nine  weeks/'  he  says,  "with  the  sails  struck 
on  account  of  the  western  and  northwestern  gales  which 
beat  against  our  bows  with  fierce  squalls."  They  suffered 
from  the  cold,  and  they  had  nothing  but  rice  and  water 
to  eat.  "But  the  greater  number  of  us,  prizing  honor 
more  than  life  itself,  decided  on  attempting  at  any 
risk  to  return  to  Spain.  .  .  .  We  then  sailed  towards 
the  northwest  for  two  whole  months  without  ever 
taking  rest ;  and  in  this  short  time  we  lost  twenty-one 
men." 

So,  after  three  years  and  two  weeks,  all  that  was  left 
of  Magellan's  fleet  limped  into  the  home  harbor  —  one 
broken  ship  and  eighteen  gaunt  men.  They 
were  the  first  of  men  to  sail  around  the  world. 
They  had  done  a  marvelous  thing,  and  their  story  stirred 
people's  hearts  then  as  it  has  done  ever  since.  * '  Worthier, 
indeed,  are  our  sailors  of  eternal  fame,"  says  an  old  Span- 
ish writer  of  the  time,  "than  the  Argonauts  who  sailed 
with  Jason  to  Colchis  and  much  more  worthy  was  their 
ship  of  being  placed  among  the  stars  than  that  old  Argo." 

Spain  had  found  the  southwest  passage  to  the  Indies. 
Portugal  held  that  to  the  southeast.  Two  other  routes 
seemed  possible  —  to  the  northeast  around  Europe  and 
to  the  northwest  around  North  America.  France  began 
to  search  for  the  northwest  passage.  The  king  of  France 
sent  word  to  the  king  of  Spain  "asking  him  by  what  right 
he  and  the  king  of  Portugal  undertook  to  monopolize  the 
earth.  Had  our  first  father,  Adam,  made  them  his  sole 
heirs?  If  so,  it  would  be  no  more  than  proper  for  them 
to  produce  a  copy  of  the  will ;  and  meanwhile  he  should 
feel  at  liberty  to  seize  upon  all  he  could  get." 


[3T6J 


SHIPS  IN  STRANGE  SEAS 


377 


Thereupon  this  ambitious  King  Francis  sent  Verrazano, 
an  Italian,  who   explored  the  shores  of  what  The 
is  now  the  United  States  in  an  effort  to  find  a  Je™\ 

.Begin  to 

strait  cutting  through  it.     Of  course  he  failed,  Explore, 
because  there  is  no  such  strait.     Ten  years  later  1524 
Cartier,  a  Frenchman,  found  the  mouth  of  the  great  St. 
Lawrence  River  and  claimed  the  land  for  France. 

Spain,    Portugal,    England,    and    France    were    now 
snatching  at  the  new  land  and  its  promises  of  trade. 


The  Results  of  a  Century's  Work 

Many  wonderful  things  had  happened  in  the  hundred 
years  since  Prince  Henry  the  Navigator  had  begun  his 
work.     Men  had  learned  that  the  torrid  zone 
is  not  a  place  where  crews  and  ships  are  burned     ew  . 
to  ashes.     The  end  of  Africa  had  been  found, 
and  vessels  had  rounded  it,  making  a  familiar  path  to 
Asia.     It  had  been  proved  that  the  Atlantic  is  not  a  sea 
of  darkness  and  does  not  end  in  a  horrible  abyss.     Two 
new  continents  had  been  discovered  in  the  West.    A  way 
had  been  found  through  that  new  land  to  the  old  world 
of  the  East  beyond  it.     Men's  ships  had  sailed  all  around 
the  ball  of  the  earth. 


1.  By  looking  in  all  the  books  you  can  find,  get  pictures  of  boats  of 
different  times  down  to  the  present.  What  various  kinds  of  power 
have  been  used  to  move  them?  Where  has  the  power  been  applied? 
2.  Find  out  the  speed  of  modern  steamships.  The  journal  of  Colum- 
bus records  the  runs  for  days  of  24  hours  as  all  the  way  from  63  leagues 
on  a  day  with  a  fresh,  favoring  breeze,  to  9  leagues  in  a  storm  when 
they  "took  in  much  sea  over  the  bows,"  and  7  or  8  leagues  when  the 
ship's  "head  was  all  round  the  compass  owing  to  the  calm  that  pre- 
vailed." The  average  run  was  about  31  leagues.  3.  Make  a  compass 
like  the  one  described  on  page  342.     On  a  paper  a  little  larger  than 


378  BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 

the  dish,  mark  the  directions  (North,  South,  East,  and  West)  and  lay 
it  correctly  under  the  compass.  Of  what  use  is  it?  Compare  your 
compass  with  a  pocket  compass  or  a  ship's  compass.  4.  Make  a 
careful  map  of  some  creek  or  some  crooked  street  or  some  field  or 
village  that  you  know  well.  What  are  the  difficulties  of  a  map  maker  ? 
5.  Lay  a  modern  map  beside  each  of  the  old  maps  in  this  chapter. 
Note  the  old  map  maker's  mistakes.  Note  quite  as  carefully  what 
he  has'  right.  6.  Look  on  a  modern  map  of  the  world  and  see  what 
regions  are  still  unexplored.  What  is  the  latest  geographical  dis- 
covery? 7.  What  aids  does  a  modern  sea  captain  have  that  the  early 
navigators  did  not  have?  8.  The  customs  and  buildings  of  India 
have  not  greatly  changed  since  the  times  of  Marco  Polo  and  Vasco  da 
Gama.  From  the  Perry  Pictures  Company  you  can  get  interesting 
scenes  in  this  country.     Use  them  to  make  an  illustrated  book. 


CHAPTER  XV 

SPAIN  AND   HER  RIVALS 

Spaniards  in  America 

A  new  world  had  been  found.  What  use  was  to  be 
made  of  it?  Spain's  answer  was,  "I  will  get  gold  and 
silver  from  it."  Spain  was  a  proud  country  at 
the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Her  G^c 
nobles  had  proved  their  courage  and  strength  by 
overcoming  the  once  conquering  Moors  and  driving  them 
back  into  Africa.1  Except  for  Portugal  her  rulers  now 
held  all  the  great  peninsula,  a  country  as  broad  as  any 
in  Europe,  and  they  held,  besides,  across  the  sea,  posses- 
sions of  unknown  size,  perhaps  as  wide  as  the  empire  of 
Portugal  in  the  East.  But  Spain  herself  was  poor.  She 
had  great  castles  and  beautiful  churches,  populous  cities 
and  haughty  nobles,  but  farms  were  few  and  poorly 
worked,  and  the  cities  were  more  crowded  than  busy. 
Most  Spaniards  loved  glory  and  scorned  work  ;  they  were 
eager  to  handle  swords  rather  than  tools. 

To  the  new  country  now  opened  to  them  the  most 
adventurous   of    the   Spaniards   began    tc   go. 
They  explored  its  coasts,  its   rivers,  its  lakes,    .     fi  *~ 
its  forests,  and  its  mountains  in  search  of  riches. 
Balboa  in  1513  struggled  across  the  Isthmus  of  Darien 
and  found,  not  wealth,  but  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
Cortez  with  a  little  Spanish  army  won  Mexico,  I5I9~I521 
and  Piz&rro  cruelly  conquered  Peru,  and  each 
^won  vast  treasure.     Expeditions  made  their  way  through 

1  See  pages  326,  363. 
379 


38o 


BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 


Spanish  Conquest  of  Mexico 


The  Aztec  Indians  of  Mexico  made  this  wall  painting.     Men  who  can  paint  like 

this  are  not  uncivilized.     Note  the  feather  head-dress  and  the  wicker  shields  of 

the  Aztecs.     Before  the  time  of  the  Spaniards  there  were  no  horses  in  America. 

The  Aztec  artist  has  here  hinted  at  the  terrible  Spanish  cruelty. 

Florida  and  pushed  northward  from  Mexico  into  what 
are  now  our  southwestern  states.      De   Soto 
explored  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and 
found  the  Mississippi  River. 

In  the  islands  of  the  West  Indies  the  conquerors  found 
great  numbers  of  Indians  living  a  peaceful,  rather  idle 
life  in  the  mild,  fruitful  country.  According  to  the 
Spanish  idea  the  land  belonged  to  the  king,  and  he  gave 
great  tracts  of  it  to  the  Spanish  explorers  and  conquerors 
and  settlers.  One  man  often  received  thousands  of  acres, 
with  three  or  four  Indian  towns  upon  them.  The  inhab- 
itants became  his  serfs. 


SPAIN  AND  HER  RIVALS  381 

Men  from  Spain  could  not  work  in  this  new  climate, 
warmer   and   more   moist   than   their   own.     Sunstroke 
and  fever  killed  many  in  the  early  years.     So 
they  turned  to  their  serfs  and  put  them  to  ^^ 
work  on  their  farms  and  in  their  mines.     But 
these  simple  people,  used  to  outdoor  life  and  little  work, 
could  not  endure  this  new  kind  of  labor.     The  white 
men,  too,  by  ill  fortune,  brought  disease  among  them, 
and  the  Indians  died  like  summer  flowers  under  a  frost. 
The  first  discoverers  found  perhaps  300,000  inhabitants. on 
the  island  of  Haiti :  twenty-four  years  later  there  were  but 
14,000.! 

Since  the  Indians  could  not  be  used,  what  was  to  be 
done?  The  earth  held  gold;  Spaniards  must  have  it; 
somebody  must  get  it  for  them.  They  were 
soon  making  sugar,  too,  in  the  islands,  and  S1^L 
each  sugar-mill  needed  from  thirty  to  eighty 
workers.  You  will  remember  that  the  Portuguese,  as 
they  crept  down  the  coast  of  Africa  in  the  time  of  Prince 
Henry,  had  found  a  black  people,2  whom  they  thought 
fitted  for  slavery;  that  they  began  slave  raids,  and  car- 
ried away  slaves  to  Portugal  and  to  Spain.  When  the 
Spanish,  therefore,  found  the  natives  of  the  West  Indies 
unable  to  endure  the  hard  labor  put  upon  them,  they 
thought  of  their  black  slaves  at  home,  and  ten  years  after 
Columbus '  discovery,  a  few  were  brought  over  as  an 
experiment.  The  experiment  succeeded,  the  negro  slaves 
proved  good  workers,  and  a  few  years  later  another 
shipload  came  over.  But  Spain  could  not  spare  her  own 
slaves,  born  in  Spain  of  Christianized  parents,  trained  to 
work  in  the  white  man's  fashion.     So  the  king  of  Spain, 

1  The  Spanish  government  and  the  Catholic  church  felt  a  sincere  interest 
in  the  Indians  and  a  strong  desire  to  civilize  and  convert  them.  The  terrible 
story  of  the  islands  was  not  r«p«at«d  on  the  mainland. 

2  See  page  364. 


382  BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 

owner  of  the  new  world,  granted  to  Portugal,  owner  of 
the  African  coast,  the  right  to  sell  four  thousand  African 
black  men  every  year  in  the  West  Indies. 

All   this   negro   labor   brought   from   the   earth   great 
wealth  in  gold  and  silver,  for  the  chief  business  was  mining. 
Down  from  the  mountains  in  all  parts  of  New 
wealth        Spain  wound  trains  of  donkeys  or  of  the  strange 
American  llamas,  packed  with  sticks  of  silver 
and  gold.     In  storehouses  the  precious  bars  were  piled  up 
to.  wait  for  ships  to  take  them  to  Spain.     In  companies 
of  sixty  or  seventy  the  ships  set  sail,  " laden,"  as  a  writer 
of  the  times  says,  "with  cochineal,  hides,  gold,  silver, 
pearls,  and  other  rich  wares.''     Again  he  tells  of  a  ship  un- 
loading "  five  millions  of  silver  ...  so  that  the  whole  quay 
lay  covered  with  plates  and  chests  of  silver  .  .  .  most 
wonderful  to  behold  .  .  .  besides  pearls,  gold,  and  other 
stones."     He  speaks  again  of  a  West  Indian  fleet  of  one 
hundred  ships  and  says  that  during  one  year  two  hundred 
twenty  vessels  sailed  from  America  for  Spain  and  Portugal. 
To  a  country  where  gold  seemed  to  grow  on  bushes 
many   colonists   flocked,   and   New   Spain  was   changed 
from  an  Indian  land  to  a  white  man's  country, 
pams         j^  a  j^ky  |30rn  m  ^he  year  when  Columbus  dis- 
covered the  new  land  had  lived  to  be  seventy- 
five  or  eighty  years  old,  he  would  have  seen  another 
Spain    transplanted    into    that    new   world.     He    would 
have  seen  over  two  hundred  cities  and  towns,  Spanish 
towns,    with   streets   like   those   in   Spain,    with   pretty 
houses  of  stone  and  plaster,  with  open  squares  for  pleasure 
and  trade,  with  churches  of  carved  stone.     Outside  the 
towns  were  great  plantations,  growing  cattle,  spices,  and 
rice,  all  worked  by  hundreds  of  slaves. 

A  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  Spaniards  lived  on  these 
plantations  and  in  these  towns,  and  th«y  had  a  rich, 


SPAIN  AND  HER  RIVALS 


383 


San  Domingo  in  1586 

A  town  on  the  island  of  Haiti  built  by  Columbus'  brother.     The  city  wall  and 

the  cannon  on  the  water  front  protect  it.     Notice  the  beautiful  church  in  the 

center  of  the  town 


beautiful  life.  There  were  balls  where  the  gentlemen 
danced  in  long  tight  hose  and  silken  trunks  and  velvet 
doublets  slashed  and  puffed  and  set  off  with  bright 
linings.  The  ladies  were  lovely  in  rich  brocades  and  gold 
cord  and  falling  lace.  There  were  church  festivals  with 
processions  and  gay  sports  in  the  streets  and  the  square, 
like  the  festivals  at  home  in  Spain.  There  were  monas- 
teries with  schools  where  the  children  were  taught. 
There  were  a  few  high  schools,  too,  for  boys  and  girls, 
and  the  young  men  went  to  universities  where  learned  pro- 
fessors were  writing  books.  There  were  hospitals  and 
skilled  physicians. 

In  fact,  Spain  did  in  America  what  Rome  had  long  ago 
done  in  Spain  :  she  transplanted  her  own  civilization  into 
it.    Yet  there  was  this  difference :  the  native  Spaniards 


384  BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 

had  adopted  Roman  ways  and  Roman  learning,  had  inter- 
married with  the  Romans,  and  had  built  up  a  new  people ; 
the  Spaniards  in  America,  on  the  other  hand,  were  little 
changed  by  their  transplanting,  and  most  of  the  Indians 
remained  a  distinct  and  ignorant  people. 

A  thing  that  would  seem  curious  to  American  eyes  in 
this  New  Spain  was  the  fact  that  it  was  almost  entirely  a 
land  of  one  nationality.  There  were  the  negroes,  to  be 
sure,  but  they  were  slaves,  and  there  were  Indians,  but 
they  were  almost  slaves.  There  was  hardly  a  Frenchman 
or  a  German  or  an  Englishman  or  an  Italian  to  be  seen, 
only  Spaniards.  In  the  city  of  Seville  sat  the  Council  of 
the  Indies,  to  help  the  Spanish  king  in  ruling  this  new 
country.  The  king  and  this  council  made  all  laws,  sent 
governors  and  generals,  gave  land  and  collected  taxes. 
These  rulers  planned  to  save  America  for  Spaniards  of 
true  blood  and  Catholic  religion.  One  of  the  laws  was 
to  the  effect  that  "no  descendants  of  Jews,  Moors,  or  of 
heretics  .  .  .  down  to  the  fourth  generation,  be  allowed 
to  come  to  the  island  [that  is,  Cuba]."  It  was  as  though 
there  were  a  wall  around  Spanish  America,  with  a  single 
gate,  and  only  those  who  could  speak  the  Spanish  password 
might  go  through. 

Indeed  it  was  so,  in  a  way.  Colonists  could  come  to 
America  only  in  ships,  and  ships  could  unload  only  in 
harbors.  Every  harbor  town  was  in  charge  of  a  Spanish 
officer  with  troops  and  guns  for  defense.  His  order  was 
to  receive  only  ships  carrying  papers  from  the  Council  at 
Seville  stating  that  they  had  sailed  from  that  city  and 
had  a  right  to  put  in  at  Spanish  American  ports.  The 
officer  had  orders,  besides,  to  permit  only  Catholic 
Spaniards  to  land  on  his  shores.  There  were  officers  of 
the  Inquisition x  to  make  sure  that  those  landing  were 

1  See  page  339. 


SPAIN  AND  HER  RIVALS  385 

Catholics.  If  they  were  found  to  be  heretics,  they  were 
sometimes  burned.  The  plan  was  largely  successful, 
and  to-day  almost  all  of  America  below  the  United  States 
is  Catholic,  and  nearly  all  but  Brazil  is  Spanish  in 
speech  and  custom. 

Spain  and  Her  Enemies:    1.  France 

When  Columbus  discovered  America,  Spain  was  ruled 
by  King  Ferdinand  and  Queen  Isabella,  and  had  little 
to  do  with  the  rest  of  Europe.     Their  daughter, 
however,    married    a   prince   of   the   powerful  Ch^lersey 
German  family  of  Hapsburg,  and  so  it  hap- 
pened that  a  few  years  later  a  young  man  inherited  the 
crown  who  was  not  only  king  of  Spain,  but  archduke  of 
Austria  and  duke  and  count  of  many  places,  besides  being 
king  of  several  others.     In  addition  to  all  this  he  soon 
became  emperor  of  the  Holy  Roman  empire.     His  titles 
would  have  filled  a  page. 

Francis   I,   king   of   France,   looked  with   dread   and 
jealousy  upon  the  overgrown  possessions  of  this  Charles, 
encircling  France  and  threatening  to  strangle 
her.     It  was  he  who  had  haughtily  questioned      "  over 
Spain's  right   to  monopolize  the  world.1     He 
sent  Verrazano  and  Cartier  to  snatch  a  part  of  the  new 
world  from  Charles.2    In  Europe,  too,  he  tried  to  humble 
him.     Ever  since  two  years  after  Columbus  discovered 
America  France  and  Spain  had  been  at  war  over  Italy. 
This  war  Francis  I  gladly  continued  in  order  to  lower  the 
Hapsburg  pride  and  lessen  the  Hapsburg  dominions.     At 
last,  however,  it  was  he  who  was  humbled  and  had  to  make 
peace.     After  that  defeat  Frenchmen  continued  to  hate 
Spain,  and  wherever  French  and  Spanish  met  there  was 

1  See  page  375.  2  See  page  377. 


386  BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 


Emperor  Charles  V 

likely  to  be  blood  spilled.  An  event  that  happened  in 
America  illustrates  the  hard  feeling  between  the  two 
nations. 

Revolt  from  the  Catholic  Church,  you  remember,  had 
spread  into  France.1     Thousands  of  people  had  left  the 

»  See  pages  337-338. 


SPAIN  AND  HER  RIVALS  387 

old  church  and  become  Protestants,  or  Huguenots,  after 
Calvin's  teaching.     But  the  majority  of  French- 
men remained  Catholic  and,  as  happened  at  .Jenc 

.  .   .  Huguenots 

first  in  every  country,  looked  with  suspicion  and 

anger  upon  the  new  religious  rebels.  They  thought  to  root 
out  heresy  by  persecution.  Occasionally  French  Protes- 
tants were  arrested  and  burned,  and  Protestant  churches 
torn  down.  Yet  the  Huguenots  increased  in  numbers, 
especially  among  the  nobles.  One  of  these  Huguenot 
nobles,  Coligny,  had  the  high  position  of  Admiral  of 
France  and  was  a  friend  and  adviser  of  his  king.  He 
looked  across  the  ocean  and  saw,  he  thought,  a  refuge  for 
his  persecuted  fellow-Protestants  and  at  the  same  time  a 
chance  to  get  new  land  for  France  and  to  break  Spain's 
monopoly. 

Three  times  Coligny  got  his  king's  consent  for  groups 
of  Huguenots  to  found  settlements  in  America.     The 
first  was  in  Portuguese  Brazil,  but  the  Portu- 
guese   drove   the    colonists    out.     The   second  .  upen°ts 

in  America 
was  on  the  shore  of  what  is  now  South  Carolina, 

but  hunger,  mutiny,  Indian  troubles,  and  disappointment 
made  this  a  failure  also.  The  third  attempt  was  on  the 
shore  of  Florida.  This  was  Spanish  territory.  Back 
in  1513  Ponce  de  Leon  had  landed  there,  had  explored  the 
shore  and  claimed  it  for  Spain,  and  had  given  it  the 
Spanish  name  of  Florida.  Frenchmen  would  have  been 
glad  to  cut  off  this  possession  of  the  Spanish  king.  So  in 
1564  Coligny' s  colony  built  Fort  Caroline  on  the  St. 
John's  River  and  began  to  explore  for  gold.  Some 
mutineers  left  the  settlement,  sailed  out  to  sea,  and  raided 
a  Spanish  ship. 

Spain  took  terrible  revenge.  The  Spanish  king  sent 
Menendez,  a  wolf  of  a  man,  with  ships  and  men  to  wipe 
the  Frenchmen  out.     He  did  it  thoroughly,  killing  in  cold 


388  BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 

blood  over  five  hundred  French  captives.  Some  he  hanged 
to  trees  with  a  sign  that  read,  "Not  as  to  Frenchmen, 
but  as  to  Lutherans/ '  Two  years  later  a  Frenchman, 
seeking  revenge,  landed  on  the  Florida  coast  with  two 
hundred  men,  surprised  the  Spanish  fort  at  St.  Augustine, 
killed  the  garrison,  and  hanged  several  to  trees  with  a 
sign  that  read,  "Not  as  to  Spaniards,  but  as  to  liars  and 
murderers."  Frenchmen  had  taken  vengeance,  but  they 
never  again  tried  to  colonize  Florida.  A  few  years  later 
they  returned  to  America  again,  but  not  to  the  Spanish 
south.  They  sought  once  more  the  great  St.  Lawrence, 
which  Cartier  had  found  more  than  seventy  years  earlier.1 

Spain  and  Her  Enemies:    2.  The  Netherlands 

Philip  II,  the  son  of  Charles  V,  inherited  all  of  his 
father's  possessions  except  those  connected  with  Austria. 
United  Spain  was  his,  so  was  southern  Italy  and 
Spain  °  Sicily,  so  was  the  Netherlands,  or  what  is  now 
Holland  and  Belgium;  America,  besides,  was 
his,  and  during  his  reign  he  conquered  Portugal.  But  in 
spite  of  all  his  great  kingdom  and  all  his  great  titles  he 
was  not  a  great  man.  He  was  an  enemy  to  liberty : 
men  must  think  as  he  directed.  He  was  suspicious  and 
jealous :  a  general  who  served  him  badly  was  hated  and 
punished  for  failure ;  and  one  who  served  him  well  was 
hated  and  punished  for  success.  Philip  was  cruel ;  it 
was  he  who  sent  Menendez  to  wipe  out  the  French 
colony,  and  he  was  angry  that  any  man,  woman,  or  child 
had  escaped  the  butcher.  He  was  a  strong  Catholic, 
and  he  meant  to  free  the  world  of  heretics.  He  gloried 
in  the  bloody  work  of  the  Inquisition  and,  it  is  said,  laughed 
when  he  heard  of  a  great  massacre  of  the  Huguenots  in 
Paris.     He  was  ambitious  to  be  the  most  important  ruler 

i  See  page  377. 


SPAIN  AND  HER  RIVALS 


389 


of  Europe,  and  he  had  spies  in  every  court,  that  he  might 
know  all  secrets  and  turn  them  to  his  advantage. 

If  the  other  peoples  of  Europe  hated  Spain  under  the 
great  Charles,  they  hated  it  still  more  under  Philip,  and  of 
them  all  the  Nether- 
lands hated  most,  hav- 
ing suffered  most. 

The  Netherlands 
was  a  country  of  great 
cities.  For  hundreds 
of  years  it  had  been 
filled  with  rich  weavers 
and  merchant  princes. 
The  gilds,  in  their  day, 
had  nowhere  been 
stronger,  and  every 
city  of  the  Netherlands 
had  its  beautiful  old 
gild  halls.  These  rich 
merchants  and  gilds- 
men  had  bought  the 
freedom  of  their  towns. 
That  was  in  the  days 
when  the  cities  had  be- 
longed some  to  the 
duke  of  this,  others  to 
the  count  of  that. 
Even  in  Philip's  day,  though  he  possessed  all  the  titles  of 
these  old  dukes  and  counts,  yet  the  Netherlands  was  not 
a  united  country,  but,  like  Germany  and  Italy,  a  group  of 
separate  states,  each  with  its  own  laws  and  customs  and 
privileges.  Every  state  was  fond  of  its  privileges  and 
proud  of  its  history  and  its  wealth.  Trouble  began  to 
brew,  therefore,  when  haughty  Philip  inherited  the  country 


Philip  II 


390  BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 

and  planned  to  rule  like  a  tyrant.  He  snapped  his  fingers 
at  old  laws.  He  insulted  Dutch  and  Flemings  and  put 
Spanish  officers  over  them.  Being  hungry  for  money,  he 
laid  so  heavy  a  tax  on  the  country  that  "  merchants  de- 
clined to  deal,  shops  were  shut,  trade  was  at  a  standstill, 
debtors  were  not  able  to  meet  their  creditors,  and  many 
banks  broke." 

The  Netherlands,  moreover,  was  full  of  heretics. 
From  Germany  at  the  east  the  people  had  learned 
Lutheranism,  and  from  France  at  the  south  they 
ersecu-  ^^  iearnec[  presbyterianism,  and  Philip,  His 
Most  Catholic  Majesty,  hated  all  heretics.  He 
set  up  the  Inquisition1  here  in  the  Netherlands,  as  he  did 
throughout  all  his  great  empire,  to  punish  heretics,  and  he 
sent  an  army  and  a  butcher  of  a  governor  to  punish  rebels. 
That  governor,  the  Duke  of  Alva,  boasted  that  during 
the  six  years  of  his  rule,  he  killed  eighteen  thousand 
heretics.  Sixty  thousand  more  fled  to  England,  and  even 
more  than  that  to  Germany,  but  the  people  of  the  Nether- 
lands were  sturdy,  stubborn  folk,  and  they  would  not  be 
subdued.  For  more  than  fifty  years  they  fought  for  their 
freedom.  Sometimes  they  had  England's  help,  because 
England  also  was  Protestant.  Sometimes  they  had  the 
aid  of  France,  because  France  also  feared  and  hated 
Spain.  But  both  were  fickle  friends,  and  it  was  the 
strength  of  the  Dutch  themselves  and  the  wisdom  of  the 
men  of  one  of  their  own  noble  families  that  at  last  won 
independence. 

Of  these  patriotic  nobles  the  first  and  most  stubborn 

fighter  was  William,  Prince  of  Orange,  he  whom 

555"       the  Hollanders  to-day  call  the  father  of  their 

of  Orange  . 

freedom.     Though    he   had    begun    life    as    a 
wealthy,   honored,   ambitious  prince,  a  Catholic   and  a 

1  See  page  339. 


SPAIN  AND  HER  RIVALS  391 

favorite  of  the  Spanish  king,  yet  for  twenty  years  he 
labored  for  the  freedom  of  his  country,  spending  his 
money  in  her  cause,  risking  his  life  for  her,  and  finally 
dying  a  martyr  in  her  behalf.  He  was  determined 
to  sweep  the  Netherlands  clean  of  Spaniards,  to  restore 
the  old  laws  and  liberty  of  the  land,  to  win  freedom  of 
worship  for  Protestants  and  Catholics  alike.  To  gain 
these  purposes  he  fought  battle  after  battle  and  with- 
stood siege  after  siege. 

Some  of  those  sieges  were  among  the  bravest  and  saddest 
in  all  the  sad  history  of  war.  Men,  women,  and  children, 
shut  up  for  ten  months  in  Leyden,  surrounded 

by  Spanish  armies  so  that  no  food  and  no  mes-  Sieseof 
.  ,  ,  Leyden, 

serigers  except  carrier  pigeons  could  pass,  saw  I574 

their  dearest   and  best   drop  from  famine  or 

disease,  saw  their  strongest  starve  to  skeletons,  themselves 

reduced  to  eat  refuse ;  and  yet  they  held  out.     Holland 

is  a  low,  salt  marsh,  lying  below  the  level  of  the  sea. 

The  people  through  centuries  had  built  dikes  through  the 

shallow  shore  waters,  cutting  the  ocean  off  from  the  land, 

had  pumped  the  sea  out  of  this  fenced  country,  and  at  last 

sat  safe  and  serene  behind  their  sea  walls.     Now  in  their 

great  need  the  people  of  Leyden  cut  the  dikes  and  flooded 

the  land  in  order  to  float  their  own  navy  in  to  their  rescue. 

Nor  was  this  the  only  time  the  Dutch  made  the  sea 
their  ally.  " Better  ruin  the  land  than  lose  the  land," 
they  said.  The  Spanish  Duke  of  Alva,  who  was  fighting 
against  the  people,  wrote  to  his  king  :  "  Never  was  seen  on 
this  earth  such  a  war  as  this,  never  was  a  fortress  so  well  de- 
fended of  men.  They  have  an  excellent  engineer  [that  is, 
William],,  who  has  devices  that  were  never  yet  heard,  or 
seen." 

Through  it  all  William  was  not  only  fighting  battles, 
but  he  was  writing  protests  to  the  king  of  Spain  and 


392  BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 

pleas  to  the  queen  of  England  and  the  rulers  of  France 
to  help  the  suffering  Netherlands  with  troops  and  money. 
He  was  sending  eloquent  appeals  to  the  little  states  of  the 
Netherlands  to  hold  together  in  the  cause  of  freedom. 
"A  fagot  bound  together  cannot  be  broken  as  easily  as 
single  sticks/ '  he  said. 

But  he  could  gain  only  a  part  of  his  purpose.  The  ten 
states  of  the  southern  Netherlands  combined  and  declared 
Dutch  their  loyalty  to  Spain  and  to  the  Catholic  re- 
Declaration  ligion.  But  the  seven  northern  states  joined 
of  Inde-  together  as  the  United  Provinces  of  the  Nether- 
pen  ence  ianc[s  jn  their  declaration  of  independence 
they  said  :  "  All  mankind  know  that  a  prince  is  appointed 
by  God  to  cherish  his  subjects,  even  as  a  shepherd  to 
guard  his  sheep.  When,  therefore,  the  prince  does  not 
fulfill  his  duty  as  protector;  when  he  oppresses  his  sub- 
jects, destroys  their  ancient  liberties,  and  treats  them  as 
slaves,  he  is  to  be  considered,  not  a  prince  but  a  tyrant.  As 
such  the  estates  of  the  land  [that  is,  the  assembly  of  dele- 
gates, like  our  Congress]  may  lawfully  and  reasonably 
depose  him,  and  elect  another  in  his  room." 
And  so  the  Dutch  deputies,  gathered  at  The 
Hague,  proceeded  to  depose  Philip  and  to  elect  in  his 
place  the  patriot  William  and  another  prince.  Inside  of 
two  years,  however,  the  noble  Prince  of  Orange  was 
assassinated,  crying  out  as  he  fell,  "God  pity  my  poor 
country!" 

The  struggle  with  Spain  continued,  and  William's 
son  took  his  place  in  the  government  and  in  the  army. 
There  were  more  brave  sieges,  more  battles  on  land  and 
fighting  on  sea.  Not  for  twenty-five  years  was  the  war 
quite  over,  and  Holland !  able  to  stand  forth  as  a  united 

1  The  United  Netherlands  was  frequently  called  Holland,  as  it  still  is,  from 
the  name  of  its  largest  and  most  important  state. 


SPAIN  AND  HER   RIVALS  393 

and  free  country,  a  new  member  of  the  family  of  modern 
national  states. 

After  that  Holland  prospered.     The  number  of  her 
ships  increased  and  the  boldness  of  her  seamen.     They 
harried  Spaniards  wherever  they  found  them. 
They  sailed  into  all  the  ports  of  the  world 
and  traded.     They  rounded  Africa  in  the  track  of  the 
Portuguese,  who  were  then  under  the  rule  of  Spain,1  and 
took  their  Eastern  empire  from  them.     In  1609 
Henry  Hudson,  an  English  seaman  employed    6U  son' 
by  Holland,  seeking  a  new  route  to  the  Indies, 
discovered  on  the  American  shores  the  great  river  now 
called  the  Hudson,  and  claimed  for  Holland  all  the  land 
that  it  drained.     "The  Dutch  had  made  themselves  the 
common  carriers  of  the  world,"  says  a  writer  of  the  time. 
The  inhabitants  of  Holland  "  sucked  honey,  like  the  bee, 
from  all  parts,"  says  another.     And  all  these  prosperous 
Dutch  merchants  were  haters  of  Spain. 

Spain  and  Her  Enemies:  3.  England 

Spain  had   another    bitter    enemy  —  England.      One 
reason    for    English    hatred    was    commercial    jealousy. 
England  had  become  a  trading  nation.     During 
the  Middle  Ages  trade  had  been  in  other  hands.  ^ng^sh 
Hanse  ships  had  carried  to  her  shores  the  prod-  Begins 
ucts   of   the  North,    and  Venetian   ships   the 
products  of  the  East.     But  the  Hanseatic  League  had 
grown  weak  as  the  new  nations  of  Europe  grew  strong,  had 
lost  its  great  factories  and  many  of  its  members.     The 
Italian  trade  in  the  East  had  been  spoiled  by  the  Turks 2 
and  the  new  route  around  Africa,3  and  the  Venetian  gal- 
leys visited  England  less  and  less  often.     As  trade  dropped 

1  See  page  419.  »  See  page  346.  •  See  pages  358-369. 


394  BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 

out  of  the  hands  of  these  earlier  merchants,  Englishmen 
picked  it  up.  They  began  to  build  better  ships  and  to  sail 
into  distant  waters  after  the  goods  that  foreigners  had 
once  brought  to  them.  Instead  of  sending  their  raw  wool 
to  Flemish  towns,  they  had  begun  to  weave  it  them- 
selves and  to  send  out  the  cloth. 

These  ambitious  merchants  saw  a  great  new  world 
opened  up  in  America,  a  world  full  of  riches,  yet  in  this 
new  world  they  were  not  permitted  to  set  foot.  Much 
of  its  gold  found  its  way  into  England,  for  the  Spanish 
colonies  needed  the  grain  and  the  cloth  which  England 
produced  and  Spain  neglected,  but  Englishmen  might 
not  take  their  goods  direct  to  America.  They  had  to 
carry  them  to  Spanish  ports  and  there  sell  them  to  be 
loaded  upon  the  Spanish  ships  of  the  colonial  fleets.  Eng- 
lish traders  felt  that  in  this  way  many  drops  were  spilled 
between  the  cup  and  the  lip.  They  wanted  to  go,  them- 
selves, into  this  new  land  that  was  at  once  rich  and 
hungry,  and  there  trade  foods  and  cloth  for  gold. 

Another  cause  of  England's  hatred  of  Spain  was  the 
difference  in  religion.     About  1534  England  broke  away 
from  the  Roman  church,  and  became  Protes- 
Rehgwus     tant      spam?  on  the  other  hand,  boasted  that 
ences  there  was  not  a  heretic  in  her  country.     The 

Inquisition  guarded  the  ports,  lest  foreign 
heretics  should  come  in.  Its  officers  boarded  every  in- 
coming ship  and  examined  the  crew.  Many  an  English- 
man was  arrested  and  thrown  into  prison  for  the  crime  of 
having  an  English  Bible  in  his  sea  chest. 

Thus  jealousy  and  religious  difference  made  Englishmen 
and  Spaniards  enemies.  If  English  sailors  could  slip 
into  some  unguarded  harbor  in  Spanish  America,  unload 
a  cargo  and  trade  it  to  the  people  for  gold,  without  being 
caught  by  the  officials,  they  not  only  filled  their  pockets, 


395  J 


396  BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 

but  rejoiced  that  they  had  struck  a  little  blow  at  the  enemy 
of  their  land  and  their  religion.  Were  not  the  rich 
ships  of  the  Spanish  fleet  filled,  not  only  with  gold,  but 
with  men  who  imprisoned  good  English  patriots  ?  There- 
fore, if  a  ship  in  a  storm  should  be  driven  away  from  its 
company,  to  drift  alone  on  the  broad  sea,  would  it  not  be 
a  just  act  for  patriotic  Englishmen  to  capture  her  ?  Many 
an  English  crew  shouted  a  hearty  "yes"  to  such  a 
question. 

"English  smacks  that  had  once  gone  fishing  to  Iceland, 
now  turned  their  prows  southward,  for  there  were  better 

fish  in  the  sea  than  cod,  namely,  Spanish  gal- 
Pnvateers  ieons .  an(j  catching  them  was  an  act  of  patriot- 
Pirates        ism-     Trading  goods  for  gold  in  Spanish  towns 

was  slow  business  for  merchant  ships,  but  trad- 
ing cannon  balls  for  gold  on  the  high  seas  was  a  rich  and 
exciting  adventure  and  was  done  in  the  service  of  God  and 
country.  England  had  few  warships,  and  dared  not  go  to 
war  with  mighty  Spain,  but  the  English  queen,  Elizabeth, 
was  glad  to  see  her  bold  seamen  prick  the  Spanish  king  with 
their  private  swords,  so  she  only  smiled  and  kept  silent 
when  he  complained  of  her  lawless  citizens.  When  such 
sailors  could  get  special  letters  from  the  queen,  they  were 
"privateers,"  that  is,  men  who  were  privately  doing  their 
queen's  work.  But  without  these  letters,  they  had  to 
run  the  risk  of  being  hanged  as  pirates  if  the  Spaniards 
captured  them.  That  risk  they  were  willing  to  take  in 
order  to  gather  riches  and  to  punish  the  Spanish  king  for 
abusing  English  seamen  and  to  break  down  the  Spanish 
fence  around  America. 

Francis  Drake  was  one  of  the  boldest  and  most  success- 

ful  of  these  seamen.     He  was  a  very  religious 

and  patriotic  man.  He  hated  Catholics,  and 
he  hated  Spaniards.     He  loved  England,  he  loved  his 


"  Francis  Drake 

most  noble  knight  of  England,  in  the  forty-third  year  of  his  age."  So  says  the 
Latin  above  the  picture.  In  the  time  of  this  knight  armor  was  rare.  If  it  was 
worn  at  all,  it  was  much  ornamented,  like  the  helmet  under  Drake's  hand.  In 
the  upper  right-hand  corner  is  Sir  Francis'  coat  of  arms,  like  those  painted  on 
earlier  knightly  shields. 


(397) 


398  BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 

queen,  Elizabeth,  he  loved  adventure,  and  he  had  no  dis- 
like for  treasure.  He  never  feared  man  or  storm.  He 
lived  all  his  life  on  the  sea  and  could  fight  as  well  as  he 
could  sail.  For  years  he  was  the  daredevil  of  the  sea. 
The  Spaniards  called  him  "the  dragon/'  "the  demon.' ' 
With  two  little  ships  and  seventy-three  men  he  sailed  into 
the  Spanish  sea  in  the  elbow  of  Central  America,  found 
the  hiding  place  of  Spanish  treasure,  made  friends  with 
Spain's  enemies  there,  nursed  forty  of  his  men  through 
the  fever,  slipped  out  of  the  fingers  of  a  Spanish  fleet, 
captured  a  mule  train  of  treasure  and  a  storehouse  where 
lay  "a  pile  of  silver  bars  ten  feet  in  breadth,  ten  feet  in 
height,  and  seventy  feet  in  length,"  took  a  town  from  a 
full  Spanish  garrison,  scuttled  one  of  his  ships,  filled  the 
other  with  treasure,  and  sailed  home  under  the  very  nose 
of  the  Spanish  fleet. 

On  that  trip,  from  a  tree  top  on  the  Isthmus  of  Darien, 
Drake  had  caught  sight  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  where  an  Eng- 
lish ship  had  never  floated,  and  he  longed  to  sail  it.  So 
within  a  few  months  he  manned  five  ships  with  a  hundred 
sixty-four  men  and  was  off  again.  He  swung  across  the 
south  Atlantic  to  the  very  harbor  on  the  far  southern 
coast  of  America  where  Magellan  had  wintered  fifty- 
eight  years  earlier.1  Like  Magellan  he  had  to  quell 
a  mutiny.  Two  ships  he  had  to  break  up  and  leave, 
because  he  had  not  men  enough  to  work  them  in  heavy 
weather.  A  terrible  storm  blew  him  southward  and  kept 
him  for  a  month  on  the  open  sea,  past  Cape  Horn,  without 
chance  of  harbor.  "The  seas  .  .  .  were  rolled  up  from 
the  depths,  even  from  the  roots  of  the  rocks  .  .  .  ;  and 
being  aloft  were  carried  in  most  strange  manner  and 
abundance,  as  feathers  or  drifts  of  snow,  by  the  violence 
of  the  winds,  to  water  the  exceeding  tops  of  high  and  lofty 

1  See  page  371. 


SPAIN  AND  HER  RIVALS  399 

mountains."  Thus  writes  one  who  was  on  the  expedi- 
tion. Drake  lost  one  ship  in  the  great  storm  and  was  de- 
serted by  another. 

Only  one  was  left  at  last  to  work  its  way  in  better 
weather  up  the  west  coast  of  South  America.  Here  his 
experience  was  very  different  from  Magellan's.  The 
Portuguese  had  cut  westward  across  the  empty  ocean.1 
The  Englishman  hugged  the  coast  northward,  for  he  was 
after  treasure  and  Spanish  trouble.  He  found  the  wild 
coast  planted  with  Spanish  towns  and  met  Spanish  ships 
carrying  treasure  from  one  to  another. 

"In  two  barks  here, "  says  the  journal,  "we  found  some 
forty  and  odd  bars  of  silver."  In  another  they  found 
"some  fruits,  conserves,  sugars,  meal,  and  other  victuals, 
and  ...  a  certain  quantity  of  jewels  and  precious 
stones,  thirteen  chests  of  royals  of  plate,  eighty  pound 
weight  in  gold,  twenty-six  ton  of  uncoined  silver,  two 
very  fair  gilt  silver  drinking  bowls,  and  the  like  trifles." 
Once  when  they  landed  they  "met  a  Spaniard  with  an 
Indian  boy  driving  eight  lambs  or  Peruvian  sheep ;  each 
sheep  bore  two  leathern  bags,  and  in  each  bag  was  fifty 
pound  weight  of  refined  silver,  in  the  whole  eight  hundred 
weight." 

After  filling  their  ship  with  all  this  Spanish  treasure  the 
Englishmen,  because  the  love  of  exploring  was  on  them, 
sailed  far  north  along  the  shore,  past  our  California 2  and 
even  up  to  our  state  of  Washington.  Somewhere  on  our 
coast  they  camped  for  many  days  and  had  much  converse 
with  the  Indians,  who  were  "  a  people  of  a  tractable,  free, 
and  loving  nature,  without  guile  or  treachery." 

The  English  visited  their  houses,  put  ointment  on 
their  wounds  and  sores,  preached   to   them,   fed  them. 

1  See  page  372.        2  The  people  of  Marin  County,  California,  every  year  hole} 
a  IHe  on  the  day  that  Drake  is  thought  to  have  landed  there. 


400  BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 

"Before  we  went  from  thence,"  the  journal  goes  on,  "our 
general  caused  to  be  set  up  a  monument  of  our  being 
there,  as  also  of  her  Majesty's  and  successors'  right 
and  title  to  that  kingdom,  namely,  a  plate  of  brass,  fast 
nailed  to  a  great  and  firm  post,  whereon  is  engraven 
her  Grace's  name  and  the  day  and  year  of  our  arrival 
there." 

The  navigators  hoped  to  find  a  sea  passage  through  the 
land  toward  the  east  and  home,  but  finding  none  and 
meeting  cold  weather,  they  at  last  turned  across  the 
sea  toward  Asia.  It  was  a  long  and  perilous  voyage, 
threading  a  way  through  the  Spice  Islands  amid  storms 
and  reefs  and  peoples  friendly  and  unfriendly.  But  at 
last  the  " master  thief  of  the  unknown  world"  reached 
home.  His  worn-out  ship,  the  Golden  Hinde,  was  hauled 
up  on  the  English  shore,  a  banquet  was  given  on  board 
with  all  the  great  men  of  England  doing  honor  to  the  bold 
adventurer.  Queen  Elizabeth  herself  was  there,  and 
afterward,  on  the  deck,  knighted  the  daredevil  sailor  and 
made  him  Sir  Francis  Drake. 

But  this  trip  around  the  world  was  only  the  beginning 
of  his  adventures.  Once  with  a  fleet  of  twenty-three  ships 
he  started  south  to  "  singe  the  king  of  Spain's  beard." 
He  ran  into  the  great  harbor  of  Cadiz,  where  lay  a  forest 
of  merchant  ships  with  ten  great  war  galleys.  With  his 
little  swift  vessels  he  dipped  under  the  very  noses  of  the 
tall  galleys,  darted  past  them,  poured  shots  into  their 
sides,  sunk  more  than  twenty  vessels,  captured  four 
loaded  with  provisions,  slipped  out  of  the  narrow  harbor 
mouth,  and  spent  the  night  at  anchor  under  the  very 
eyes  of  the  town.  For  a  month  more  he  swept  the  seas 
and  the  coasts  of  Spain,  capturing  forts,  sinking  or  taking 
forty  large  ships  and  a  hundred  small  ones. 

Spain,  of  course,  could  not  permit  these  insults  to  her 


SPAIN  AND  HER  RIVALS  401 

power.     She  wanted,  moreover,  to  punish  England  for 
having  helped  the  Dutch.     During  all  Holland's 
brave  fight  the  little  country  had  looked  to  |njf^*ol_ 
England  for  aid,  partly  because  she,  too,  was  land 
Protestant  and  partly  because  she,  too,  hated 
and  feared  Spain.     In  answer  English  merchants  sent 
two  million  dollars  or  more  to  William,  and  little  parties  of 
Englishmen  " stole  across  the  channel"  to  enter  his  army. 
But  Queen  Elizabeth  dreaded  to  do  anything  that  should 
push  King  Philip  into  war  with  her,  so  she  hesitated  long 
whether  to  send  troops  to  aid  the  Dutch,  but  at  last  she 
did  it.     A  year  after  the  great  William  died  one  of  her 
favorite  earls  sailed  from  England  with  six  thousand 
soldiers,  and  for  two  years  he  was  in  Holland  acting  for 
some  of  the  time  as  governor  general. 

King  Philip  had  a  dream  of  adding  England  to  his 
realm  and  of  forcing  its  people  to  become  Catholic.     He 
pretended  to  have  some  shadowy  claim  to  its 
crown.     So  in  1588  a  great  Spanish  fleet  set    ^.f?11" 
sail  for  England,  "the  Invincible  Armada,"  the  Armada" 
Spaniards  called  it,  for  it  was  the  greatest  fleet 
ever  yet   assembled.     There  were   one  hundred   thirty 
ships,  the  largest  ships  of  the  world,  with  great  sails  to 
catch  the  wind  and  sweeping  oars  to  aid  them.     Hakluyt, 
an  English  writer  of  the  time,  describes  the  fleet.     He  says 
that  the  galleons  "  were  of  an  huge  bigness  and  very  stately 
built  ...  so  high  that  they  resembled  great  castles.  .  .  . 
The  upper  works  of  the  said  galleons  was  of  thickness  and 
strength  to  bear  off  musket  shot.     The  lower  works  and  the 
timbers  thereof  were  out  of  measure  strong,  being  framed 
of  planks  or  ribs  four  or  five  foot  in  thickness,  in  so  much 
that  no  bullets  could  pierce  them.  .  .  .     The  galleasses 
[the  largest  ships  of  all]  were  of  such  bigness  that  they 
contained  within  them  chambers,  chapels,  turrets,  pulpits 


402  BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 

and  other  commodities  of  great  houses.  The  galleasses 
were  rowed  with  great  oars,  there  being  in  each  one  of 
them  three  hundred  slaves  for  the  same  purpose.  ...  All 
these  [ships]  .  .  .  were  furnished  and  beautified  with 
trumpets,  streamers,  banners,  warlike  ensigns  and  other 
such  like  ornaments." 

On  board  the  fleet  were  thirty  thousand  fighting  men, 
and  every  man  was  filled  with  love  of  Holy  Church  and 
hatred  of  heretic  England  and  of  insulting  English  sailors. 
It  was  another  crusade.  At  the  masthead  of  the  admiral's 
ship  floated  a  banner  with  pictures  of  Christ  and  Mary, 
His  mother,  and  the  motto  on  it  read,  "Rise,  O  God,  and 
vindicate  your  cause."  Before  the  battle  began,  mass  was 
said  on  every  Spanish  ship,  and  every  Spanish  sailor 
prayed  for  victory  against  the  enemies  of  his  country 
and  his  church.  But  the  Englishmen,  too,  were  fighting 
a  religious  war.  "God  give  us  grace  to  depend  upon 
Him,"  wrote  Drake  in  a  letter  just  before  the  fight,  "so 
we  shall  not  doubt  victory,  for  our  cause  is  good." 

The  great  fleet  sailed  northward  to  land  her  army  on  the 

shores  of  England,  but  the  English  sea  dogs  flew  out  at  her. 

Their  ships  were  of  a  build  quite  different  from 

the  Spanish.     They  were  small,  low,  and  light, 

without  oars,  but  with  better  placed  sails.     The  great 

Spanish  galleons  were  like  wallowing  whales,  the  English 

vessels  like  skimming  swallows.     Two  of  them,  indeed, 

were  named  by  their  proud  owners  Swallow  and  Antelope. 

These  swift  little  ships   could  repeat   the  savage  play 

of  Drake  in  the  harbor  of   Cadiz.     As   Hakluyt  says, 

"Albeit  there  were  many  excellent  and  warlike  ships 

in  the  English  fleet,  yet  scarce  were  there  twenty-two 

or  twenty-three  among  them  all  which  matched  ninety 

of  the   Spanish   ships  in  bigness  or  could  conveniently 

assault  them.     Wherefore  the  English  ships,  using  their 


1 403] 


404  BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 

.  .  .  nimble  steerage,  whereby  they  could  turn  and 
wield  themselves  with  the  wind  which  way  they  listed, 
came  oftentimes  very  near  upon  the  Spaniards  and 
charged  them  so  sore  that  now  and  then  they  were  but  a 
pike's  length  asunder.'' 

The  men  who  sailed  those  seaworthy  ships  were  sons 
of  the  sea.  Only  fifty-three  of  the  hundred  ninety-seven 
ships  belonged  to  the  government;  the  others  were  owned 
by  the  merchants  and  fishermen  who  for  years  had  been 
learning  their  lessons  of  seamanship  and  daring  in  plunder- 
ing Spain.  It  was  old  privateers  who  fought  and  won  the 
nine-day  fight,  with  its  retreats  and  advances,  its  roar  of 
cannon,  its  sinking  ships,  its  fire  ships  drifting  by  night 
into  the  Spanish  fleet. 

To  end  all  came  a  great  storm  that  wrecked  the  re- 
treating Spanish  vessels,  so  that,  says  Hakluyt,  "of  one 
hundred  thirty  ships  which  set  sail  out  of  Portugal,  there 
returned  home  fifty-three  only,  small  and  great."  After 
the  victory,  there  were  solemn  festivals  in  England  and 
prayers  in  the  churches.  Queen  Elizabeth  rode  through 
London,  down  streets  hung  with  blue  cloth  and  decked 
with  captured  Spanish  banners. 

The  defeat  of  the  Invincible  Armada  was  an  inspiration 

to  England.     "The  sea  is  ours,"  Englishmen  thought  ; 

"why  not  the  shores  of  it?"     The  world  was 

ospen  y  Qpen  ^0  thenij  trade  prospered.  In  order  to  feed 
that  trade,  manufactures  flourished  at  home,  money 
poured  into  England,  and  life  became  more  gorgeous  for 
the  nobles  and  more  comfortable  for  the  commoners. 
Noblemen  "wore  a  manor  on  their  backs,"  and  rich 
merchants  dressed  like  nobles,  in  gay  velvets  and  silks, 
with  slashes  and  puffs.  New  houses  were  built  with 
windows  of  glass,  so  that  the  sunshine  flooded  in  where 
in  the  old  days  had  been  unhealthful  gloom.     Even  poor 


4°5 


406 


BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 


men's  houses  began  to  have  chimneys  and  clean  air  and 
pleasant   fireplaces.      Well-made   chairs   and   bedsteads 

began  to  take  the  place 
of  the  rude  benches  and 
straw  pallets  of  earlier 
days.  There  were  com- 
fortable pillows  on  many 
a  common  man's  bed, 
and  even  carpets  on  his 
floor.  On  his  table  were 
dishes  of  pewter  or  silver 
instead  of  the  old  wooden 
bowls,  and  good  fresh 
meat  oftener  took  the 
place  of  the  cheap  salt 
fish. 

Men's  minds,  too,  be- 
came more  active.  Young 
nobles  and  com- 
moners,  alike, 
flocked  to   the   universi- 
ties, and  grammar  schools 
were  numerous.   English- 
men   went    everywhere, 
especially    to    the    great 
cities  of  France  and  Italy, 
and  brought  back  books 
and    learning    and    new 
ideas.     The    science,  of 
astronomy  was  being  re- 
made.    For  hundreds  of 
years  men  had  thought  of  the  earth  as  the  center  of  the 
universe,  with  sun,  moon,  and  stars  swinging  about  it. 
Now,  however,  in  1543,  a  Polish  scientist,  Copernicus, 


Learning 


God's  Providence  House 


Built  in  1652,  it  stili  copies  the  style  of 
Queen  Elizabeth's  time.  It  was  given  its 
name  because  its  inhabitants  escaped  the 
plague.  Before  the  days  of  numbering 
houses,  names  for  them  were  convenient 


407 


408  BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 

declared  the  sun  to  be  the  center.  Some  years  later  the 
Italian  Galileo  perfected  the  telescope,  and  after  that 
hardly  a  month  passed  without  a  new  discovery  in  the 
heavens.  Medical  discoveries  also  were  being  made,  and 
in  1628  Harvey,  an  English  surgeon,  found  out  how  the 
blood  circulates  through  the  body. 

With  so  much  happening  in  war,  industry,  science,  and 
exploration  men  were  driven  to  writing  to  express  the  ideas 

Literature  teemmS  m  tne^r  minds.  Printing  presses  be- 
came common  in  England,  and  the  land  was 
flooded  with  histories,  books  of  travel,  sermons,  stories, 
essays,  plays,  poetry.  Some  one  says  that  "  England 
became  a  nest  of  singing  birds."  Learning  now  counted 
as  much  as  noble  blood.  Queen  Elizabeth's  wise  ministers 
were  not  great  nobles  but  learned  commoners.  The  poets 
to  whom  all  England  listened  were  many  of  them  sons  of 
cobblers  or  tradesmen.  Shakespeare,  the  greatest  of  them 
all,  was  a  tanner's  son.  Noblemen  now  had  more  to 
think  of  than  in  the  old  days  when  war  had  been  their 
only  occupation.  Courtiers  talked  of  poetry  and  philoso- 
phy and  geography.  Many  of  them  could  write  a  poem 
as  well  as  dance  a  minuet  or  swing  a  sword  or  sail  a  ship. 

England  in  America 

One  of  the  great  men  of  the  time  was  Richard  Hakluyt. 
He  did  much  to  make  Englishmen  love  the  sea,  to  make 
England  proud  of  her  sailors,  to  encourage  his 
countrymen  to  colonize  America.  He  was 
a  professor  of  geography  and  map-making  in  Oxford 
University.  Of  himself  he  says  :  "I  read  over  whatsoever 
printed  or  written  discoveries  and  voyages  I  found  extant, 
either  in  the  Greek,  Latin,  Italian,  Spanish,  Portugal, 
French  or  English  languages.  I  grew  familiarly  ac- 
quainted with  the  chiefest  captains  at  sea,  the  greatest 


SPAIN  AND  HER  RIVALS  409 

merchants,  and  the  best  mariners  of  our  nation.' '  He  de- 
termined to  make  the  noble  story  of  English  seamanship 
known  to  the  world.  He  printed  all  the  stories  he  could 
find  of  English  exploration.  He  called  attention  to 
Cabot's  early  discovery1  and  urged  England  to  take  North 
America  for  her  own.  He  wrote  a  description  of  Vir- 
ginia and  an  appeal  to  his  countrymen  to  colonize  it.2 
It  seemed  to  him  that  God  had  reserved  the  new  lands 
north  of  Florida  for  the  English  to  occupy,  while  the 
Spanish  might  hold  those  to  the  south. 

A  few  years  before  the  Armada  fight  a  noble  English 
gentleman,  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  determined  "to  dis- 
cover, possess,  and  to  reduce  unto  the  service 
of  God  and  Christian  piety,"  as  Hakluyt  says,  s"rHum_ 
"  those  remote  and  heathen  countries  of  America  Gilbert 
not  actually  possessed  by  Christians  and  most 
rightly  [belonging]  unto  the  crown  of  England,"  because 
of    Cabot's    discovery.     With    the    help    of    interested 
friends  he  fitted  out  two  expeditions.     On  the  second 
he  sailed  to  Newfoundland  and  set  up  on  its  shores  the 
arms  of  England.     But  he  was  a  man  "of  no  good  hap 
by  sea,"  and  on  the  return  voyage  in  a  great  storm  he 
went  down  with  one  of  his  ships,  saying,  "We  are  as  near 
to  heaven  by  sea  as  by  land." 

Gilbert's  half  brother,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  was  unwilling 
to  let  Gilbert's  work  be  quite  swallowed  by  the  sea.     He 
was   a  many-sided   man.     He    had  been    on 
voyages  with  Drake.     He  had  gained  Queen  Q^fhs 
Elizabeth's  favor  by  gay  and  courtly  behavior. 
He  had  played  his  part  in  war.     He  had  written  poems, 

1  See  page  368. 

2  It  is  in  his  greatest  book,  "  The  Principal  Navigations,  Voyages,  Traffics, 
and  Discoveries  of  the  English  Nation,"  that  we  read  of  the  work  of  Drake, 
Cabot,  Gilbert,  Raleigh,  and  many  others,  and  learn  much  of  what  we  know 
about  their  voyages. 


4io 


BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 


and  had  gained  great  wealth.  After  Gilbert's  death 
Raleigh  sent  three  parties  in  different  years  to  make 
settlements  in  America.  All  the  attempts  were  sad 
failures.  On  the  little  island  of  Roanoke  in  Pamlico  Sound 
the  first  party  of  about  two  hundred  settlers  landed  in 

the  summer  of  1585  and 
spent  a  winter  harassed 
with  Indian  troubles  and 
fear  of  starvation.  Sir 
Francis  Drake  passed 
that  way  in  the  next 
summer,  after  one  of  his 
raids  on  Spanish  America, 
and  the  distressed  party 
gladly  left  the  wilderness 
and  returned  with  him  to 
England. 

They  had  scarcely  gone 
before  relief  ships  came 
from  Raleigh  and  left 
provisions  and  a  party 
of  fifteen  men.  The  next 
year  another  party  of 
settlers  came  to  the  island 
but  found  no  trace  of  the 
fifteen  men  —  a  sad  hint. 
This  new  party  landed, 
and  their  ships  sailed 
away  to  get  more  provisions.  They  planned  to  return 
in  a  few  months,  but  meantime  the  Armada  fight  was 
threatening,  England  needed  every  ship,  men  had  no 
time  to  think  of  America.  For  four  years  the  little  com- 
pany of  Englishmen  were  alone  in  the  wilderness,  cut  off 
from  the  world  and  at  the  mercy  of  the  Indians.     When 


An  Indian  of  Virginia 

From  the  water-color  drawing  by  John 
White  of  Raleigh's  expedition  of  1585 


SPAIN  AND  HER  RIVALS  4II 

at  last  a  relief  party  did  come,  they  found  only  ruins  of 
houses,  a  deserted  fort,  broken  chests,  discarded  tools, 
all  overgrown  with  grass.  The  settlers  had  disappeared, 
and  the  Indians  would  tell  no  tales.  Thus  in  sorrow  and 
disaster  began  the  English  settlements  in  America.  But 
Englishmen  were  not  to  be  discouraged.  Other  expeditions 
came,  and  in  1607  Jamestown  was  successfully  founded,  the 
first  permanent  settlement  of  England  in  the  new  world. 

In  those  early  years  men  came  for  commerce,  and  they 
got  from  the  king  permission  to  trade,  just  as  merchants 
did  who  wished  to  buy  and  sell  in  the  cities  of  Europe.1 
But  in  order  to  get  the  riches  of  this  new  country,  English- 
men had  to  build  houses,  work  the  ground,  cut  the  timber, 
trap  the  fur-bearing  animals.  They  needed  to  own  land 
and  build  towns.  The  land  belonged  to  the  English  king. 
Therefore  traders  going  there  and  colonists  settling  there 
must  get  his  consent. 

So  there  grew  up  the  custom  of  chartering  companies 
for  trading   and  colonizing.     A  number  of   men  would 
make  plans  to  form  a  company  for  settling  and 
trading  in  America;  each  member  would  furnish   c 
a  certain  amount  of  money  and  would  expect  in 
return  a  certain  amount  of  the  profits.     After  their  plan 
was  made  they  would  present  themselves  to  the  king.     If 
he  favored  the  idea,  he  would  give  them  a  signed  per- 
mission, called  a  patent.     In  this  patent  he  gave  tracts 
of  land  to  the  company.     He  also  laid  down  rules  for  its 
governing;   for  these  settlers  across  the  ocean  were  still 
his  subjects,  and  he  considered  it  his  duty  to  protect  them. 

Queen  Elizabeth  had  given  such  patents  to  many  com- 
panies desiring  to  trade  and  settle  in  different  parts  of 
the  old  world.  There  was  the  Russia  Company,  the 
Cathay  or  China  Company,  the  Baltic  Company,  the 

1  See  page  336. 


412  BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 


The  Town  of  New  Amsterdam,  or  New  York 
Notice  the  cannon,  the  stockade,  the  Dutch  windmill 

Turkey  Company,  the  Morocco  Company,  the  Africa 
Company,  the  East  India  Company.  The  kings  who 
followed  Elizabeth  granted  charters  to  trade  in  America 
to  the  Newfoundland  Company,  the  Bermuda  Company, 
the  Plymouth  Company,  the  New  England  Company,  the 
Massachusetts  Bay  Company,  the  Hudson  Bay  Company. 

England's  Rivals  in  the  New  World 

In  the  meantime  Holland  and  France  were  doing  the 
same  thing  —  all  picking  plums  from  Spain's  tree  in 
America,  all  claiming  that  Spain's  share  lay  to 
The  .  the  south,  all  exploring  the  northern  coast  and 
Canada  claiming  what  was  found,  all  chartering  com- 
panies, all  trying  to  make  settlements  and  to 
hold  their  new-found  lands.  The  French  began  slowly 
to  work  their  way  up  the  St.  Lawrence  River,  exploring  its 
banks  and  the  forests  that  led  back  from  them,  making 
friends  with  the  natives,  trading  for  furs,  using  the 
Indians  as  guides  to  the  great  inland  seas  of  which  they 
told.  By  the  year  1615  they  had  gone  on  foot  or 
canoe  as  far  as  Lake  Ontario  and  had  tramped  across 
the  country  to  the  eastern  shore  of  Lake  Huron.  For 
the  next  seventy  years  the  wonderful  waterway  of  the 


SPAIN  AND  HER  RIVALS 


413 


As  It  Appeared  in  1673 

Compare  this  Dutch  town  with  the  Spanish  San  Domingo  nearly  a  century 
earlier  pictured  on  page  383 


Great  Lakes  and  their  connecting  rivers  was  the  road  that 
led  Frenchmen  on  and  on  into  the  western  wilderness, 
planting  forts  and  missions  and  trading  posts  all  the  way 
from  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  heart  of  the 
Mississippi  Valley.  By  1615,  however,  they  had  made 
only  two  settlements,  one  in  Nova  Scotia  and  one  at 
Quebec. 

South  of  the  French  country  the  Dutch  founded  a 
colony  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson,  and  England  was 
beginning  settlements  further  south.     Thirteen  Dutch  ^ 
years  after  her  colony  at  Jamestown  she  planted  English 
another    at    Plymouth.       These    were    coast  Settle- 
towns,  looking  back  to  England  across  the  sea.  ments 
It  was  long  before  Englishmen  reached  the  mountains  far 
behind  them  and  began  to  thread  their  way  across  into 
the  unknown  wilderness  beyond. 

South    of    Virginia,    where    Jamestown    was,    all    the 
western    world,    except    for    Brazil,    was    Spain's.     She 
was  little  interested,  however,  in  the  country  Spanish 
north  of  Mexico,  and  except  for  Santa  F6  in  the  Towns 
distant  southwest,  she  had  planted  only  one  colony  there, 
St.  Augustine  in  Florida. 


414 


BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 


By  1623,  then,  there  were  in  the  country  which  was 
some  time  to  be  English-speaking  America,  seven  towns  — 
two  French,  two  English,  one  Dutch,  and  two  Spanish. 


Old  Spanish  Gate  at  St.  Augustine 
It  is  still  standing.     St.  Augustine  is  the  only  walled  town  in  the  United  States 

They  were  all  mere  villages  with  a  few  log  houses,  a  little 
log  fort  to  protect  the  settlers'  bodies,  and  a  log  church 
to  guard  their  souls.  They  were  surrounded  by  Indians 
whom  they  did  not  trust.  They  lacked  most  of  the 
things  that  they  had  been  used  to  have  in  the  old  countries 
of  Europe.  Most  of  them  were  homesick  much  of  the 
time,  I  have  no  doubt,  eagerly  waiting  for  a  visiting  ship 
to  bring  them  a  few  letters  from  home,  a  few  delicacies 
to  eat  and  drink,  a  pretty  bonnet  or  a  bright  ribbon,  — 
something  to  make  them  forget  for  a  little  that  they  were 
dropped  down  in  the  wilderness  all  but  cut  off  from 
civilization.  Upon  the  few  ships  they  were  dependent, 
too,  for  the  many  necessities  of  life  —  for  flour  and  ham, 
for  sugar  and  cloth,  for  iron  and  paper  and  tools  and 
furniture. 

Six  of  these  towns  were  on  the  eastern  edge  of  a  conti- 
nent whose  great  size  nobody  had  guessed.     The  Spaniards 


SPAIN  AND  HER  RIVALS  415 

had  plunged  a  finger,  one  might  say,  into  its  southern  edge 
by  making  their  adventurous  trip  through  our  southwest- 
ern states.1  Drake  had  touched  the  coast  of  California. 
France  had  pushed  westward  a  thousand  miles  and  was 
hoping  that  every  step  would  bring  her  out  to  the  Pacific, 
to  a  waterway  through  America  to  Asia.  The  Dutch  and 
the  English  knew  only  a  narrow  fringe  on  the  east  coast. 
The  great  mass  of  the  continent  white  men  had  never  seen. 

Yet  the  path  to  America  had  been  made,  and  the  door 
had  been  opened.  Men  found  its  soil  as  rich  as  that  of 
Europe,  its  harbors  as  safe,  its  forests  as  beautiful,  its 
climate  as  pleasant.  To  men  in  Europe  who  wanted  to 
make  money  it  offered  its  timber,  its  furs,  its  mines.  To 
farmers  who  found  land  hard  to  get  in  Europe  it  opened 
broad,  empty  acres.  To  the  Huguenots  of  France  who 
found  their  Catholic  rulers  unfriendly  and  harsh,  to 
Quakers  and  Puritans  and  Presbyterians  and  Catholics 
of  England  who  found  themselves  annoyed  and  oppressed 
by  the  Episcopalian  Church,  the  far-distant  and  unpeopled 
America  offered  an  opportunity  to  worship  according 
to  their  own  consciences. 

With  the  settling  of  America  there  had  opened  a  new 
chapter  in  man's  history.  We  might  call  it  "New  Homes 
in  a  New  World."  Into  these  new  homes  men  carried 
as  precious  heirlooms  the  great  books,  the  religion,  the 
science,  the  art,  the  laws,  the  ideals  of  freedom  and  of 
honor,  that  all  the  ages  had  been  toiling  over.  Out  of 
these  things  Americans  and  their  cousins  across  the 
Atlantic  have  gone  on  making  new  history.  The  tale 
is  not  finished.  We  are  still  making  it  to-day.  After 
us  our  descendants  will  continue  it.  It  is,  perhaps,  a 
never  ending  tale,  and  chapter  rises  out  of  chapter,  age 
rests  upon  age,  as  do  the  stories  of  a  lofty  building. 

1  See  page  380. 


4i  6  BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  OWN  TIMES 

1.  What  connection  do  you  see  between  trade  and  exploration? 
Between  trade  and  the  spread  of  civilization?  2.  How  do  you  think 
civilized  people,  entering  a  new  country,  ought  to  treat  the  uncivilized 
natives?  3.  Find  out  when  the  different  states  of  South  America 
became  independent  of  Spain.  4.  Did  Spain  succeed  in  keeping  her 
American  colonies  Spanish  and  Catholic?  From  encyclopedias  or 
Shepherd's  Latin  America  find  what  the  speech  and  the  religion  of 
Mexico,  the  larger  islands  of  the  West  Indies,  and  the  South  American 
states  are  to-day.  5.  What  was  the  difference  between  the  aims  of 
Magellan  and  those  of  Drake?  Which  man  do  you  admire  more? 
6.  Read  "  The  Revenge,"  by  Tennyson,  a  poem  about  a  brave  fight 
between  a  little  English  ship  and  fifty-three  Spanish  galleons.  The 
Revenge  had  once  been  Drake's  ship.  7.  Before  1600  what  countries 
claimed  land  in  North  America?  On  what  did  they  found  their 
claims  ? 


1.  The  story  told  by  this  book  covers  2000  years  and  more.  Dur- 
ing that  time  what  very  great  changes  occurred  in  the  world  ?  What 
did  the  men  of  1600  know  that  the  Greeks  did  not  know?  What  could 
they  do  that  the  Greeks  could  not  do?  What  have  we  learned  since 
1600  ?  2.  Who  are  the  great  men  of  this  book  ?  Why  are  they  great  ? 
3.  What  countries  of  Europe  had  not  developed  very  far  in  unity  and 
strength  in  1600?  Why  do  you  think  the  northern  countries  were 
slower  in  developing  than  the  southern  ?  4.  Imagine  Greece,  Rome, 
France,  Germany,  England,  Spain,  Portugal,  Florence,  Venice,  each 
telling  what  she  had  done  for  the  world  up  to  1600.  Write  their 
speeches.  Costume  members  of  the  class  to  represent  the  various 
countries  and  let  them  walk  on  and  make  these  speeches.  Study  the 
pictures  of  this  book  for  the  costume. 


IMPORTANT   DATES 


GREECE 

(The  Greeks  themselves  counted  time  in  Olympiads.  Modern  men  have 
figured  out  that  the  first  Olympic  game-festival  was  held  in  776  B.C.  There 
were  four  years  in  this  first  Olympiad,  until  the  second  festival  began  the 
second  Olympiad.  According  to  the  Greek  reckoning,  the  battle  of  Mara- 
thon took  place  in  the  third  year  of  the  72nd  Olympiad.  But  many  things 
happened  before  the  first  Olympiad.  These  the  Greeks  could  not  date  ac- 
curately. The  events  from  which  grew  the  legends  of  the  Trojan  war,  the 
voyages  of  Odysseus  and  the  Argonauts,  and  the  founding  of  all  the  great 
cities  on  the  islands  of  the  ^Egean  and  the  mainland  of  Greece,  are  some  of 
these  early  happenings.) 

B.C.  785  First  Greek  settlement  on  the  Black  Sea. 

776  Beginning  of  first  Olympiad. 

736  First  settlement  in  Sicily. 

600  Founding  of  Massilia. 

490  Battle  of  Marathon. 

480  Battles  of  Thermopylae  and  Salamis. 

479  Battle  of  Platsea. 

438  Completion  of  Parthenon. 

404  Humbling  of  Athens  by  Sparta. 

371  Humbling  of  Sparta  by  Thebes. 

338  Philip's  conquest  of  Greece. 

336  Alexander  becomes  king. 

334  Alexander's  first  battle  in  Asia. 

332  Founding  of  Alexandria. 

323  Death  of  Alexander. 

ROME 

(The  Romans  counted  time  from  the  founding  of  Rome.  That  hap- 
pened so  far  back  that  they  did  not  know  accurately  when  it  was.  But 
the  date  that  they  set  is,  according  to  our  way  of  counting  time,  753  B.C. 
Caesar  became  sole  ruler  of  Rome  the  709th  year  after  the  founding  of  the 
city.  That  is  the  way  the  Romans  expressed  it.  This  means  that  708 
years  had  passed  between  the  founding  of  Rome  and  the  victory  of  Caesar. 
By  subtracting  708  from  753  we  find  that  according  to  our  method  of  mark- 
ing dates,  Caesar  became  ruler  in  45  B.C.) 

B.C.  753  Supposed  founding  of  Rome. 

509  (?)  Kings  expelled. . 

266  Rome  mistress  of  Italy. 

264-241  First  Punic  war. 

218-201  Second  Punic  war. 

167  Macedon  (Greece)  conquered. 

149-146  Third  Punic  war. 

146  Carthage  and  Corinth  destroyed. 

66-63  Pompey  conquers  Asia  Minor  and  Syria. 

58-50  Csesar  conquers  Gaul. 

49-45  Caesar  fights  civil  war  and  becomes  sole  ruler. 

A.D.  85  Britain  is  conquered. 

211  All  freemen  in  the  empire  are  given  citizenship. 

313  Constantine  gives  Christians  privilege  of  worship. 

4i7 


4i8 


IMPORTANT  DATES 


GERMAN    CONQUESTS 

A.D.   376  West  Goths  cross  the  Danube  into  the  Roman  empire. 

378  West  Goths  defeat  the  emperor  at  Adrianople. 

395  Alaric  king  of  the  Goths.    They  plunder  Greece. 

410  Alaric  sacks  Rome. 

415  Adolf  and  the  West  Goths  settle  in  Gaul  and  Spain. 

429  Vandals  conquer  Roman  Africa  and  set  up  kingdom . 

486  Clovis  and  the  Franks  begin  conquest  of  Gaul. 

493  East  Goths  rule  Italy. 

496  Franks  under  Clovis  become  Christian. 


A.D.   732 

771 
800 

803 
814 


911 

936 

1100-1250 

1212-1250 

1254-1273 

1273 

1370 

1519 

1525 

1520-1648 


GERMANY   AND    FRANCE 

Franks  defeat  Moors  and  prevent  invasion  of 
Frankland. 

Charlemagne  king  of  the  Franks. 

Charlemagne  emperor  of  Holy  Roman  Em- 
pire. 

Saxony  conquered. 

Charlemagne  dies .  Empire  begins  to  crumble. 

Germany 

Feudal  dukes  choose  one  of  themselves  king. 

King  is  usually  emperor  also. 
Emperors  become  strong. 
Growth  of  free  cities. 
Frederick  II  king. 
Empire  falls  into  confusion. 
Austria  becomes  strong  under  Hapsburgs. 
Greatest  strength  of  Hanseatic  League. 
Charles  V  is  chosen  emperor. 
Peasants'  war  against  nobles  and  churchmen. 
Religious  troubles  and  wars. 


France 

911  Northmen  settle  in  Normandy. 

987  Feudal  lords  choose  Hugh  Capet  king. 

1100-1250        Growth  of  free  cities. 

1226-1270         St.  Louis  (Louis  IX)  rules. 

1337-1453        Hundred  Years'  War  with  England. 

1358  Peasant  uprising. 

1494  Italian  wars  begin. 

1572  Massacre  of  Huguenots  (St.  Bartholomew's 

Day). 
1589  Henry   IV,    a   Protestant,   becomes  king; 

later  turns  Catholic,  but  grants  freedom 

of  worship  to  Protestants. 


IMPORTANT   DATES  419 


ENGLAND 

A.D.    411 

Roman  legions  recalled  Irom  Britain. 

449 

Angles  and  Saxons  begin  to  conquer  Britain. 

829 

Egbert  becomes  overlord  of  all  England. 

871-901 

Alfred  king. 

793 ( ?  )-1016  Danes  often  invade  England. 

1016-1042 

Danish  kings  rule  England. 

1066 

Norman  William  conquers  England. 

1100-1250 

Growth  of  free  cities. 

1100-1350 

Rise  and  growth  of  merchant  and  craft  gilds. 

1154-1189 

Henry  II  makes  good  laws. 

1215 

John  compelled  to  grant  Magna  Charta. 

1337-1453 

Hundred  Years'  War  with  France. 

1362  (?) 

Piers  Plowman  written. 

1381 

Great  Revolt  of  peasants. 

1485 

Tudor  kings  begin  to  build  up  strong  na- 

tional power. 

1558-1603 

Elizabeth  queen  (the  last  Tudor). 

1564-1616 

Shakespeare  lives. 

1588 

England  defeats  the  Spanish  Armada. 

SPAIN,   PORTUGAL,    AND   THE   NETHERLANDS 

A.D.    711 

Mohammedans  begin  to  conquer  Spain. 

Christian  kingdoms  slowly  grow  in  northern 

mountains. 

1140 

Portugal  becomes  independent; 

1248-1354 

Alhambra  built. .  High  state  of  Moorish  civil- 

ization. 

1469 

Christian  Spain  united   by  marriage  of  Fer- 

dinand and  Isabella. 

1492 

Ferdinand  and  Isabella  conquer  the  Moors. 

1502 

First  negro  slaves  sent  to  America. 

1516 

Hapsburg    Charles    (later   Emperor   Charles 

V)  becomes  king  of  Spain. 

1556-1598 

Philip  II  king  of  Spain. 

1564 

Spanish  war  with  Netherlands  begins. 

1574 

Siege  of  Leyden. 

1580-1640 

Kings  of  Spain  rule  Portugal. 

1581 

Dutch  declaration  of  independence. 

1584 

William  of  Orange  assassinated. 

420 


IMPORTANT   DATES 


THE   EAST 


A.D. 


622 
630 
634-644 

708 

786 

1040 

1096 
1099-1187 

1237 

1259-1294 

1300-1450 


1453 


1500-1517 


Mohammed  flees  from  Mecca. 

Mohammed  conquers  Arabia. 

Arabian      Mohammedans      conquer      Syria, 

Persia,  Egypt. 
Arabian    Mohammedans    conquer    northern 

Africa. 
Arabian      empire      at      height.     Haroun-al- 

Raschid  caliph. 
Seljuk  Turks  (Mohammedans)  begin  to  con- 
quer western  Asia. 
Crusades  begin. 
Kingdom     of      Jerusalem     maintained      by 

crusaders. 
Mongols  begin  conquest  of  Russia. 
Kublai  Khan  emperor  of  China. 
Ottoman   Turks    found   an    empire    in   Asia 

Minor  and  southeastern  Europe.     (Modern 

Turks  are  Ottomans.) 
Ottoman  Turks  conquer  Constantinople,  last 

remnant  of  Roman  empire. 
Ottoman  Turks  conquer  Syria  and  Egypt. 


THE    CHURCH 

A.D.    440  Leo  I  the  first  great  pope. 

526 (?)  St.    Benedict    founds    Benedictine    order    of 

monks. 

597  St.  Augustine  begins  conversion  of  England. 

716  Boniface  begins  work  among  Germans. 

1075  Struggle  between  popes  and  emperors  begins. 

1096-1270     Crusades. 

1200-1300     Many  universities  founded. 

1210  St.    Francis    founds     Franciscan     order     of 

preaching  friars. 

1215  St.  Dominic  founds  Dominican  order. 

1466  First  German  Bible  printed. 

1480  Spanish  Inquisition  established. 

1517  Luther  in   Germany   begins  Protestant  Re- 

volt. 

1532  Calvin  preaches  Protestantism  in  France. 

1534  English    church    under    Henry   VIII   breaks 

away  from  pope. 

1539  First  English  Bible  printed. 

1540  St.  Ignatius  Loyola  founds  order  of  Jesuits  to 

counteract  Protestantism. 
1545-1563     Catholic    Church    holds    Council    of   Trent, 
restates  creed,  reforms  practices. 


IMPORTANT   DATES 


421 


INVENTIONS, 

EXPLORATIONS,    AND    SETTLEMENTS 

A.D.    860  (?) 

Norsemen  discover  Iceland. 

985 

Norsemen  discover  Greenland. 

1000 

Norsemen  land  on  shore  of  North  America. 

1271-1295 

Marco  Polo's  travels  in  Asia  and  life  in  China. 

1320-1340 

Europe  begins  use  of  gunpowder. 

1350-1450 

Paper  becomes  common. 

1419 

Prince  Henry  begins  his  explorations. 

1435 

Cape  Bojador  is  passed. 

1445-1454 

Printing  with  movable  type. 

1472 

First   sailors'   almanac  is  published,  showing 

height  of  sun  and  stars  at  different  times 

in  various  places. 

1480 

Astrolabe  used  at  sea  for  finding  latitudes. 

1487 

Diaz  rounds  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 

1492 

Columbus  discovers  America. 

1497 

Da  Gama  sails  to  India. 

Cabot  discovers  North  America. 

1513 

Balboa  discovers  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

1519-1521 

Cortez  conquers  Mexico. 

1519^1522 

Magellan's  ship  sails  around  the  world. 

1531-1533 

Pizarro  conquers  Peru. 

1534 

Cartier  discovers  the  St.  Lawrence  River. 

1541 

De  Soto  discovers  the  Mississippi  River. 

1543 

Copernicus   publishes  a  book  giving  a  new 

theory  of  astronomy. 

1564 

Coligny  sends  a  Huguenot  colony  to  Florida. 

1565 

Spanish  found  St.  Augustine  in  Florida. 

Huguenot  settlement  destroyed  by  Spaniards. 

1577-1580 

Drake  sails  around  the  world. 

1582 

Hakluyt  publishes  first  book  of  voyages. 

1583 

Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert's  last  voyage. 

1585 

Raleigh's  company  makes  first  English  settle- 

ment in  America. 

1603-1608 

Champlain  makes  voyages  to  Canada. 

1607 

Jamestown  founded  by  England. 

1608 

Quebec  founded  by  France. 

1609 

Galileo  perfects  telescope. 

Hudson  discovers  the  Hudson  River. 

1614 

Dutch  trading  posts  on  the  Hudson. 

1615 

French  as  far  west  as  Lake  Huron. 

1620 

Plymouth  founded  by  England. 

1623 

New  Amsterdam  founded  by  Holland. 

FURTHER   READING 

There  is  no  escape  from  the  fact  that  a  teacher  cannot  give  what 
she  does  not  possess  nor  communicate  interest  she  does  not  feel.  No 
textbook  can  give  more  than  a  child's  introduction.  If  the  teacher, 
desires  to  awaken  intelligent  curiosity,  answer  eager  questioning,  estab- 
lish permanent  interest,  make  the  study  truly  vital,  she  must  know  a 
great  deal  more  about  the  subject  than  any  textbook  can  tell. 

How  can  the  teacher  of  elementary  grades,  always  pressed  for  time, 
seldom  trained  to  find  her  way  in  the  serious  study  of  history,  discover 
quickly  the  best  material?  A  convenient  procedure  for  the  teacher 
who  knows  little  about  the  subject  is  to  use  first  the  references  in  a  more 
advanced  textbook  prepared  by  scholarly  writers ;  for  example,  Out- 
lines of  European  History,  Part  I,  by  J.  H.  Robinson  and  James  Breasted 
(Ginn  &  Company,  1914,  $1.60),  covering  the  period  from  man's 
beginnings  to  Louis  XIV,  contains  lists  of  books  by  chapters.  A 
Bibliography  of  History  for  Schools,  by  Andrews,  Gambrill,  and  Tall 
(Longmans,  1910,  60f^)  contains  classified  lists  of  titles  for  all  periods 
and  countries  (including  stories  for  children).  Excellent  bibliographies 
on  special  topics  are  appended  to  articles  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica. 
Longer  and  more  numerous  extracts  from  the  old  writers,  with  informa- 
tion about  their  complete  works,  may  be  obtained  from  such  collections 
as  Readings  in  Ancient  History,  by  W.  S.  Davis  (Allyn  &  Bacon,  2  vol.), 
A  Source  Book  of  Medieval  History,  by  F.  A.  Ogg  (American  Book 
Company),  and  Readings  in  European  History,  by  J.  H.  Robinson 
(Ginn  &  Company,  2  vol.). 

The  University  of  Pennsylvania  (Philadelphia)  publishes  a  number 
of  Translations  and  Repr'nts  from  the  Original  Sources  of  European 
History,  sold  for  15  to  25  cents.  Many  of  the  old  writers  are  available 
in  complete  form,  well  printed,  with  helpful  introductions  and  notes, 
in  Everyman's  Library  (Dutton,  35  £).  Others  can  be  found  in  the 
Bohn  Libraries  (The  Macmillan  Company,  usually  $1.00  or  $1.50). 

The  Teaching  of  History,  by  Henry  Johnson  (The  Macmillan  Com- 
pany, 1915,  $1.00),  the  latest  work  on  the  subject,  discusses  the  use  of 
"sources"  in  schools,  while  F.  M.  Fling,  in  Historical  Method  (Ains- 
worth,  50 ff),  shows  briefly  and  simply  how  a  critical  scholar  uses  the 
sources  to  construct  historical  narrative. 

It  is  believed  that  many  teachers  would  be  glad  to  have  a  brief, 
carefully  chosen,  topically  arranged  list  of  books  especially  fitting  into 
the  scheme  and  matter  of  this  textbook.  Such  Reading  Lists  have  been 
prepared,  with  descriptive  and  critical  comments  on  the  various  titles, 
and  lists  of  the  best  books  for  children.  They  have  been  included  in  a 
small  Manual  along  with  suggestions  to  the  teacher  for  making  the 
work  more  interesting  and  vital.  This  little  pamphlet  will  be  fur- 
nished without  cost  to  teachers  whose  classes  use  the  textbook. 

422 


INDEX 


Pronunciation  according  to  Webster's  New  International  Dictionary. 

Key  :  a,  as  in  ale ;  a,  as  in  am ;  a,  as  in  fi'-nal ;  a,  as  in  arm  ;  a,  as  in  ask  ;  a,  as 
in  so'-fd  ;  e,  as  in  eve ;  e,  as  in  e-vent' ;  e",  as  in  end ;  2,  as  in  no'-vgl ;  e,  as  in  ev'-er ; 
g,  as  in  go ;  i,  as  in  ice ;  I,  as  in  111 ;  6,  as  in  old ;  6,  as  in  to"-bac'co ;  6,  as  in  lord  ; 
o,  as  in  not ;  0,  as  in  ctfn-nect' ;  do,  as  in  food ;  oo,  as  in  foot;  th,  as  in  thin ;  u,  as 
in  use ;  u,  as  in  u-nite' ;  u,  as  in  urn  or  her;  ti,  as  in  up ;  u,  as  in  cir'-cus ;  n,  as  in 
French  boN. 


Acropolis  (d-krop'-6-lis),  38-40. 

Adolf  (a'-dolf),  147-148. 

Adrianople  (ad'-ri-dn-o'-p'l),  145. 

iEgina  (e-ji'-nd),  38. 

^schylus  (es'-ki-lus),  quoted,  58-59. 

Africa,  Greeks  visit,  12,  18,  43 ; 
Romans  conquer,  1 14,  325  ;  Moors 
conquer,  326,  379;  map  of,  343; 
Portuguese  voyages  around  coast, 
349-360,  374,  377,  381-382,  393. 

Agricola  (d-grik'-6-ld),  120-121,  122. 

Agriculture,  German,  142  ;  medieval, 
250-253. 

Alaric  (al'-d-rik),  146-147. 

Alexander,  62-69. 

Alexandria,  69-70,  128,  341,  344. 

Alfred,  187-192. 

Alva  (al'-va),  duke  of,  390,  391. 

America,  voyages  to,  159,  367,  369, 
37 *>  375  5  Spaniards  in,  379-3^5  5 
Huguenots  in,  387-388;  Dutch  in, 
393;    English     in,     394-400,    408- 

415- 
Angelo  (5,n'-je"-lo),  Michael,  273. 
Angles,  181-184. 
Anglo-Saxons,  181-192,  199-200. 
Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle,  quoted,  182- 

184,  194-196,  i97-!98. 
Aphrodite  (af-ro-dl'-te"),  27,  28. 
Apollo  (d-pol'-o),  2i. 
Apphianus  (ap-fi-a'-nus),  132-133. 
Apprentice  (d-pren'-tls),  265. 
Arabia,  43,  286,  322-323. 


Argonauts  (ar'-go-ndts),  3-4,  14. 

Aristotle  (ar'-Is-tot'-'J),  67. 

Armada  (ar-ma'-dd),  401-405. 

Armor,  Greek,  picture,  58 ;  Roman, 
106-107;  German,  143;  Norman, 
pictures,  194-196;  medieval,  231- 
232 ;  pictures,  213, 220, 225,  226, 229, 
237,  238,  248,  279,  280;  later,  335, 
352,  386,  389,  395. 

Army,  Persian,  56;  Roman,  84,  86, 
105-110;  Charlemagne's,  153-154. 

Artemis  Car'-te-mis),  21. 

Arthur,  King,  239.  « 

Assembly,  51,  154,  185-187. 

Asser,'  quoted,  187-188,  190,  191-192. 

Assyria  (d-sir'-i-d),  pictures,  2,  3. 

Astrolabe  (as'-tro-lab),  344. 

Athene  (d-the'-ne),  21,  23,  24  ;  pic- 
ture, 37. 

Athens,  23,  38-45,  51-52,  59-61,  159, 
271. 

Augur  (6'-gwr),  82. 

Augustine,  297. 

Augustus,  129. 

Azores  (d-zorz'),  355. 

Balboa  (bal-b5'-a),  379. 
Ball,  John,  259-262. 
Banquet,  244 ;  picture,  246. 
Baptistry,  273  ;  pictures,  269,  274. 
Baths,  119,  121. 

Battering  ram,  102,  227 ;  pictures, 
104,  226. 


423 


424 


INDEX 


Bavaria,  164. 

Bede  (b§d),  quoted,  297. 

Behaim  (ba'-him),  maps,  357,  362. 

Belgium,  118,  150. 

Benedict  (b6n'-£-dikt),  302-303  ;  rule 

of,  303-307,  312. 
Beowulf  (ba'-S-woolf),  181-182. 
Bergen  (bur'-gen),  285. 
Bishop,  299. 

Black  Sea,  4,  14,  16,  43,  128,  329. 
Bojador  (boj-d-dor') ,  Cape,  353. 
Boniface  (bon'-i-fas),  298. 
Books,  308-311  ;  pictures,  46-47,  122. 
Brazil,  369,  370,  385- 
Britain  (brit'-'n),  8,  17,  43,  120-122, 

128,  181-184. 
Bruges  (brod'jez),  285. 

Cabot,  John,  368. 

Csesar  (se'zdr),  Julius,   99-110,   115, 

118,  120. 
California,  399,  415  ;  picture,  314. 
Calvin,  John,  338,  387. 
Camp,  Roman,  107-109. 
Canada,  368. 
Cannae  (kan'-6),  94. 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  356,  359,  370,  374. 
Capetians  (kd-pe'-shdnz),  175. 
Carthage,  8,  90-96,  98,  105. 
Cartier  (kar'tya'),  377,  385,  388. 
Castle,  163,  217-227. 
Catapult  (kat'-d-pult),  101-102,  227  ; 

picture,  104. 
Cathedral,  picture,  301. 
Chalcis  (k&l'-sis),  38. 
Charlemagne  ( shar'-le"-man  ) ,  1 5 1-1 5  7, 

163-164. 
Charles  V,  385,  388  ;  picture,  386. 
Charter,  Great,  207-212. 
Chartered  companies,  411-412. 
Charters,  204,  207-212. 
Chaucer  (ch6'-s§r),  quoted,  233. 
China,  74,  287,  288,  328,  341,  346,  347" 

349i  355>  36o,  361,  365*411- 
Chivalry,  time  of,  247-248. 
Christianity,  beginning  of,  128-135. 
Chronicles,  182,  311-312. 
Church  councils,  300,  340. 


Cicero  (sis'-er-5),  quoted,  114. 

City,  Greek,  38 ;  Roman,  78 ;  Eng- 
lish, 202-204  ;  pictures,  269,  331. 

Clovis  (^klo'-vis),  149-151. 

Coligny  (ko'-len'-ye'),  387. 

Colonies,  Greek,  13-19;  in  America, 
380-385,  409-415- 

Columbus,  360-368,  369,  385. 

Compass,  342. 

Constantine  (kon'-stdn-tin),  134-135, 

145,  325- 
Constantinople,    145,   290,    325,  331, 

332,  337*  346. 

Consuls,  84. 

Copernicus  (ko-pur'-m-kws),  406. 

Corinth  (kor'-inth),  38,  98,  130. 

Cortez  (kor'-tez),  379. 

Costume,  Assyrian,  pictures,  2,  3 ; 
Greek,  pictures,  20,  24,  33,  35,  37, 
41,  46,  47;  Persian,  pictures,  53, 
55,  56,  66 ;  Roman,  78  ;  pictures, 
80,  81,  83,  85,  134;  German,  141- 
142;  pictures,  143,  150;  Saxon, 
182;  medieval,  156,  244-245;  pic- 
tures, 178,  202,  203,  206,  2ii,  259, 
261,  266,  270,  272,  279,  289,  292, 
294,  309  ;  religious,  pictures,  165, 
296,  299, 304,  305, 306,  308,  313,  320 ; 
later,  347,  348,  358,  364,  397,  407, 
frontispiece.     See  also  Armor. 

Counts,  153,  154,  174. 

Crossbow,  234. 

Croyland,  monastery  of,  313. 

Crusades,  329-333. 

Da  Gama,  see  Gama. 
Danes,  190-192,  298. 
Darien  (da'-ri-en'),  379,  398. 
Delian  (de'-H-dn),  Confederacy,  59- 

61. 
Demeter(de"-me'-ter),  21  ;  picture,  20. 
Denmark,  157,  158,  281,  339. 
De  Soto,  380. 
Diaz  (di'as),  356. 
Dionysus  (dl'-o-nl'-SMs),  21,  39. 
Doge  (d5j),  291-293. 
Domain,  249. 
Doomsday  Book,  197-198. 


INDEX 


425 


Drake,  Francis,  396-400,  402,409,  415. 
Dukes,  163,  173,  174. 
Dutch,  the,  see  Netherlands. 

Eannes,  Gil,  353. 

East,  the,  286-287  ;  Rome's  conquest 
of,   96-98 ;    Portuguese  empire  in, 

359.  393- 

Egbert,  185. 

Egypt,  18,  43>  69,  97,  128. 

Einhard  (In'-hart),  quoted,  156. 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  336,  396,  398,  400, 
401,  404,  408,  409,  411,  412;  pic- 
tures, frontispiece,  407. 

Emperor,  Roman,  115,  117;  Holy 
Roman,  152,  162,  164-173. 

England,  181-212,  258,  392-412. 

Eratosthenes  (er'-d-tos'-th^-nez),  69. 

Etruria  (e-trod'-rl-d),  76,  77,  88. 

Eusebius   (u-se'-bi-ws),  quoted,  132- 

133,  134-135- 
Excommunication        (6ks'-ko-mu-ni- 

ka'-shwn),  170. 
Exploration,    Greek,    3-1 1 ;    Viking, 

159;    Portuguese,     349-360,     369; 

Spanish,  360-368,  369-375*  379~38o; 

English,  368,  398-400;  French,  377, 

412-413;  Dutch,  393. 

Factories    (trading),    Greek,    12-13; 

Hanseatic,  285  ;  Venetian,  290. 
Fairs,  288-290. 
Ferdinand,  King,  363,  385. 
Feudalism  (fu'-ddl-iz'm),  214-217. 
Florence,  269-277,  290,  295. 
Florida,  380,  387,  409,  413. 
Fort  Caroline,  387. 
Forum  (fo'-rum),  Roman,  79-80. 
France,  173-180,  375,  377,  385-388. 
Francis  I,  King,  377,  385. 
Francis,  Saint,  316-317. 
Frankland,  East,  161-163. 
Frankland,  West,  162,  173-174. 
Franks,  141,  148-15 1. 
Frederick  II,  168-172,  281,  293. 
Froissart    (froi'-sart),    237;    quoted, 

258-262. 
Funeral,  Roman,  86. 


Galileo  (gal'-Ue'-o),  408. 

Gama,  Vasco  da,  356-359. 

Gauls,  12,  17;  Caesar's  war  with, 
99-110;  civilization  of,  1 18-120; 
Goths  conquer,  148;  Franks  con- 
quer, 149-150,  162. 

Genoa  (j6n'-6-d),  290,  361. 

Germans,  128,  141 -144;  missionaries 
among,  298. 

Germany,  163-173,  281,  284,  298. 

Gilbert,  Sir  Humphrey,  409. 

Gild  merchant,  263-264. 

Gilds,  craft,  265-268;  emblems  of, 
275-276 ;  changes  in,  294-295 ;  en- 
tertain pilgrims,  319. 

Golden  Fleece,  3,  4,  14. 

Golden  Hinde,  400. 

Goncalves  (gdn-sal'-vesh),  353-354. 

Goths,  141,  144-148. 

Greece,  2-73;  Rome  conquers,  97,  98, 
no,  128,  130,  136,  137-138. 

Greenland,  159. 

Guinea  (gin'-i),  361. 

Gulf  of  Mexico,  380. 

Gunpowder,  247. 

Hakluyt  (hak'-loot),  408-409;  quoted, 
401-402,  404. 

Hamilcar  (ha-mil'-kar),  92. 

Hannibal,  92-95. 

Hanseatic  League  (han'-se"-at'-ik  leg), 
281-285,  288-289,  393. 

Hapsburgs,  385. 

Harold,  King,  194  ;  picture,  195. 

Hastings,  battle  of,  194. 

Hawking,  240-241. 

Helleston,  204. 

Hengist,  182,  183. 

Henry  II,  of  England,  200-202. 

Henry  the  Navigator,  350-355. 

Hephaestus  (heVfeV-tws),  21. 

Herakles,  4. 

Hermes  (hur'-mez),  21,  28-29;  pic- 
tures, 28,  35. 

Herodotus,  quoted,  8,  n,  12,  55,  59, 

74-75- 
Hestia  (heV-tl-d),  42. 
Holland,  150, 160,  392,  393,  401,  412. 


426 


INDEX 


Horatius,  88. 

Horsa,  182. 

House,  Greek,  40,  42 ;   Roman,   78  ; 

German,  142;  medieval,  256,  264- 

265. 
Hudson,  Henry,  393. 
Huguenots  (hu'-ge-nSts),  387,  415. 
Huns,  145,  161. 
Hunting,  239-240. 

Iceland,  159. 

India,  128,  286,  288,  355,  356-360. 

Inquisition,  339-340,  384-385,  3^8, 
390,  394. 

Isabella,  Queen,  363. 

Italy,  Greek  colonization  of,  12,  16; 
Rome  conquers,  74-77  ;  Hannibal 
enters,  93-95;  Goths  plunder,  147; 
Lombards  in,  152,  171- 172;  Flor- 
ence, 269  ;  war  over,  385. 

Jamestown,  411,  413. 

Jason,  3-4. 

Jerusalem,  321-322,  330 ;  picture,  331. 

Jesuit  (jez'-u-Tt),  339,  340. 

Jesus,  129. 

John,  King,  205-212. 

Joinville  (zhw&N'-vel'),  quoted,  176- 

177,  178. 
Justinian,  138. 

Knighting,  236-239. 

Kublai  Khan  (kod'-bli  kan'),  347. 

Ladrone  Islands  (la-dr5n'),  373. 
Langland,  William,  257. 
Langton,  Stephen,  207. 
Latins,  12,  76. 

Launcelot  (lan'-se"-lot),  230,  232. 
Leonidas  (le"-6n'-i-das),  57. 
Leyden  (H' -den),  siege  of,  391.' 
Libraries,  in  Alexandria,  69  ;  Charle- 
magne's, 156;  of  monasteries,  311. 
Lombards,  141,  152,  171-172. 
London,  285. 
Lorraine  (lo-ran'),  164. 
Louis  IX,  176-179,  317,  320. 
Luther,  Martin,  338. 


Macedon  (mas'-e'-d5n),  19,  62,  97,  98, 

130. 
Magellan  (ma-jel'-an),  369-375. 
Magna   Grsecia   (mag'-nd  gre'-slri-d), 

17,  61,  77. 
Malory,  quoted,  230,  232,  236,  238. 
Manor,  249-258. 
Maps,  making  of,  69,  343~344- 
Marathon,  54-55. 
Market-place,  Greek,  42-43  ;  Roman, 

78-79  ;    English,    203  ;    Florentine, 

270-271. 
Mars,  81. 

Marseilles  (mar-salz'),  17. 
Martyrs,  Christian,  132-134. 
Massilia,  17. 

Menendez  (ma-nen'-dath),  387-388. 
Mexico,  379,  380. 
Miletus  (im-le'-tws),  14. 
Mines,  103,  227. 
Minstrels,  241-242. 
Missionaries,    130,     153,     187,     296- 

298. 
Mississippi  River,  380,  413. 
Mohammed  (mo-ham'-ed),  323-324. 
Monasteries,  300-316. 
Montauban,   siege  of   (mdn'-t6-baN), 

224-227. 
Moors,  328,  351,  363. 
Moots,  Anglo-Saxon,  185-187. 
Movable  tower,  102-103. 
Mucius  (mu'-shus),  Caius  (ka/yws), 


National  states,  334-336. 

Neco  (ne'k5),  354. 

Negroes,  354,  381-382,  384. 

Netherlands,  388-393. 

Newfoundland,  409. 

Non  (non),  Cape,  351,  353. 

Normandy,  192-193. 

Normans,  192-200. 

Northmen    or    Norsemen,     157-160, 

161. 
Norway,  157,  158,  159,  281,  284,  288, 

339- 

Novgorod  (ndv'-g6-r6t),  285,  288,  289, 
290,  291. 


INDEX 


427 


Odess'a,  14. 

Odysseus  (o-dls'-Gs),  4-5. 

Olympia,  29-34. 

Olympus,  20. 

Ostia  (6s'-tya),  98. 

Pacific  Ocean,  Balboa  discovers,  379. 

Page,  234-235. 

Palestine  (p&l'-Ss-tin) ,  129,  326,  330. 

Pan,  21. 

Paris,  France,  175,  176,  177. 

Paris,  Matthew,  quoted,  169,  172,  178. 

Parliament  (par'-li-ment),  187;  pic- 
ture, 186. 

Parthenon  (par'-the-non),  23-25,  38; 
picture,  22. 

Patricians  (pa-trish'-anz),  84. 

Paul,  130,  297. 

Peddlers,  277-278. 

Pericles  (per'-i-klez),  59-61 ;  quoted, 

51- 

Persia,  war  with  Greece,  53-59 ; 
Alexander  conquers,  62-69  >  Mo- 
hammedans conquer,  326. 

Peru,  379. 

Phidias  (fid'-i-as),  24,  30. 

Philip  of  Macedon,  62. 

Philip  II,  of  Spain,  388-390,  392. 

Philippines,  373. 

Phoenicians  (fe"-n!sh'-anz),  8,  II,  73, 

354. 
Picts,  181. 
Pigafetta  (pe-ga-fet'-ta),  quoted,  371- 

375- 

Pilgrims,  318-322. 

Pindar,  quoted,  32,  34. 

Piraeus  (pl-re'-ws),  43-44,  159. 

Pirates,  Rome  conquers,  97,  98-99 ; 
Vikings,  157-160  ;  Angles  and  Sax- 
ons, 181  ;  medieval,  281. 

Pizarro  (pi-zar'-ro),  379. 

Platsea  (pld-te'-a),  59. 

Plato  (pla'-to),  quoted,  45-46. 

Plebeians  (ple"-be'-yanz),  84. 

Plowing,  250,  252. 

Plutarch  (ploo'-tark),  quoted,  37,  55, 

64-67-  .  ; 

Plymouth,  413. 


Pnyx  (niks),  51. 

Poles,  281. 

Polo,  Marco,  347~349,  35°- 

Pompey,  98-99,  III. 

Ponce  de  Leon  (pon'-tha  da  hi-on'V 

387. 
Pope,     crowns    Charlemagne,    152; 

struggle  with   emperors,    164-173; 

ruler  of  church,  300. 
Portugal,  explorers  of,  349-360,   361, 

369,  370,  375  ;  slave  trade  of,  382  ; 

loses  Eastern  empire,  393. 
Poseidon    (po-si'-don),    21  ;   picture, 

2or 
Praxiteles  (prak-sit'-e-lez),  28-29. 
Printing,  336-337- 
Privateers,  396. 

Propontis  (pro-pon'-tis),  3,  16.. 
Protestantism      (prot'-es-tdnt-Iz'-m) , 

337-339,  340. 
Provinces,  Roman,  114,  11 8- 122. 
Ptolemy  (tol'-e"-mi),  350  ;  map,  341. 
Punic  wars  (pu'-nik),  90-96. 

Quebec,  413. 

Raleigh    (r6MI),   409-410;    picture, 

395- 
Renaud  (re-no'),  224-227. 
Revolt,  Great,  258-262. 
Richard  I,  205,  333. 
Roads,  Roman,  121,  122-125  >  raedie- 

val,  253,  277  ;  Chinese,  349. 
Roanoke  (ro'-a-nok'),  410. 
Roger  of  Wendover,  quoted,  206-209. 
Rolf  the  Ganger  (gang'-er),  192,  193. 
Romans,    12,    73,    74-139,    H0,    14*1 

142,  145-H8. 
Romulus,  79. 
Runnymede,  209. 
Russia,  281,  288. 

Saewulf,  quoted,  322. 

Sailing  directions,  342-343. 

Saint  Augustine,  Fla.,  388,  413,  414. 

Saint    Gall    (sS,n    gal'),    monastery, 

316;  plan,  315.     ; 
Saint  Julian's  Bay,  371,  398. 


428 


INDEX 


Saint  Lawrence  River,  377,  388,  412, 

413- 

Saints,  316-318. 

Salamis  (sal'-d-mis),  58-59. 

Santa  F6,  413. 

Santa  Maria,  363 ;  picture,  366. 

Saracens  (s&r'-d-senz),  322-333. 

Saxons,  141,  151,  153,  181-184. 

Schools,  Greek,  45-47;  Charlemagne's, 
156;  monastery,  308,  383. 

Science,  Greek,  47-48,  69-70;  later, 
406,  408. 

Scythians  (sith'-i-dnz),  11,  14. 

Senate,  Roman,  84,  112. 

Shakespeare,  408. 

Ships,  Greek,  10-11  ;  Roman,  91,  92  ; 
Viking,  157;  picture,  158;  Nor- 
man, pictures,  193,  198;  medieval, 
280-281 ;  picture,  321 ;  later,  345- 
346 ;  pictures,  366,  371,  374, 403, 405. 

Shops,  medieval,  264-265  ;  picture, 
266.     See  also  Market-place. 

Sicily  (sis'-i-H),  8,  16-17,  91,  92,  94, 
95,  96,  114,  128,  168,  169,  173,  328. 

Slaves,  16,  113,  354,  381-382. 

Socrates  (sok'-ra-tez),  48-51. 

Spain,  Greek  settlements  and  trade, 
8,  12,  17,  43;  Carthaginians  in,  90, 
92,  93;  Rome  rules,  96,  114,  120, 
128;  Goths  conquer,  148;  Vikings 
visit,  159;  Saracens  rule,  326,  328  ; 
picture,  327 ;  explorers  of,  363- 
368,  369-377  ;  colonies  in  America, 
379-385»  4i  3,  4H  ;  enemies  of,  385- 
408. 

Sparta,  36-37,  57,  61. 

Spice,  278,  286,  349. 

Squire,  235-236. 

Sweden,  157,  158,  281,  298,  339. 

Syria,  97,  98,  326. 

Tacitus  (taV-I-tws),  quoted,  120- 121, 

141-144. 
Tarik  (ta'-rik),  326. 
Thebes  (thebz),  61. 
Themistocles   (th&-mls'-t6-klez),   55- 

56,  57-58. 
Thermopylae  (ther-mSp'-Me) ,  57,  98. 


Thor,  150. 

Thorold,  313. 

Thucydides    (thii-sld'-l-dez),   quoted, 

60-61. 
Tortoise  (t&r'-tus),  103-105. 
Tournament     (toor'-nd-ment),     229- 

230 ;  picture,  237. 
Trade,    Greek,    12-18,    43;    Roman, 

127-128;  medieval,  277-293  ;  later, 

336,  393-39-; 
Trading  posts,    Greek,    12-13  ;  Han 

seatic,  285;  Venetian,  290-291. 
Travel,  Greek,  3-6  ;  Roman,  124-127 ; 

medieval,  277,    278-279,  312,  318- 

322. 
Triumph,  Roman,  86-87,  ll1- 
Troubadours  (troo'-ba-doorz), 243-247. 
Turks,  329,  331,  346. 

Vandals,  141. 

Vassal,  214-217,  249-250,  254-256. 

Vellum,  308-310. 

Venice,  290-293. 

Venus,  28  ;  picture,  27. 

Verrazano  (ver-rat-sa'-n5),  377,  385. 

Vespucius  (ves-pii'-shws),  369. 

Vesta  (ves'-td),  80. 

Vestals,  80,  82. 

Vikings     (vi'-kingz),     157-160,     161, 

182,  190-191,  192. 
Villain,  250-263. 
Virginia,  409,  410,  413. 

Washington,  state  of,  399. 

West    Indies,    Columbus     discovers, 

365-367, 369 ;  Spaniards  in,  380-384. 
William  the  Conqueror,  192-200. 
William     of     Malmesbury     (mamz'- 

bSr-i),  quoted,  199-200. 
William  of  Orange,  390-392. 
Witenagemot        (wlt'-e-nd-ge-mof) , 

187. 
Woden,  150,  185. 

Xenophon  (zen'-fc-fon),  quoted,  49~50 
Xerxes  (zurk'-zez),  55-58. 


Zeus  (zus),  21,  30-31,  40  ;  picture,  20 


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